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Dessert

To Dry Cherries

A method for drying cherries by layering them with sugar and repeatedly heating until the fruit is fully dried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Dry Cherries

To Dry Cherries

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cherries

  1. Combine the cherries and a small amount of water in a preserving kettle. Heat until scalding hot.

  2. Remove the cherries and dry them immediately.

  3. Layer the cherries in the kettle, sprinkling sugar between each layer. Let it sit to melt.

  4. Heat the kettle again until scalding hot. Repeat this process three times with the sugar.

Dry and store

  1. Drain the cherries from the syrup and lay them out to dry on dishes in the sun or on the stove.

  2. Once dry, place the cherries in a sieve and dip them into cold water, then quickly remove them.

  3. Pour the cherries onto a fine, soft cloth to dry, then set them back in the hot sun or on the stove.

  4. Store the dried cherries in a box with layers of white paper in a dry place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Cherries
Provide the fruit that dries into a chewy, concentrated piece of fruit.
Double-refined sugar
Draws out moisture and, as it soaks in, preserves the fruit and adds sweetness.

The step that matters

Repeating the hot heating and sugar layering. Each hot cycle drives water out of the cherries while sugar replaces it, so the fruit firms and keeps. Skipping or rushing cycles leaves more moisture, which makes the cherries spoil sooner.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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