To Dry Cherries the Best Way
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cherries
Put the cherries into a preserving pan with a small amount of scalding hot water.
Remove the cherries and dry them.
Sugar and heat
Layer the cherries back into the pan, sprinkling sugar between each layer.
Let it sit until the sugar melts.
Heat the pan on the fire until scalding hot again.
Remove from heat and repeat this process three times.
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.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit itself, whose flavour and chewy texture remain after drying.
- Sugar
- Draws moisture out of the fruit and adds sweetness while helping preserve it.
The step that matters
Heating the pan until scalding hot again. Sugar can scorch or caramelise if the pan is overheated, and the fruit can toughen or cook rather than dry gently. Heat only until the liquid is scalding, not boiling, so the sugar dissolves and the syrup slowly draws water from the cherries.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.