Skip to main content
Dessert

Cherries Preserves

A preserve made by boiling cherries with sugar and repeated simmering.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Cherries Preserves

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Boil the cherries.

  2. Set them aside in an earthen pan overnight.

  3. Strain the syrup.

  4. Add more sugar.

  5. Boil until it reaches a good consistency.

Cook and rest the cherries

  1. Add the cherries to the syrup.

  2. Boil for five minutes.

  3. Set the mixture aside for another day.

  4. Repeat the boiling process for two more days.

Dry the cherries

  1. Drain the cherries.

  2. Lay them on wire sieves to dry in a stove or a nearly cold oven.

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.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Cherries
Provide the fruit that forms the body and flavour of the preserve.
Sugar
Sweetens the preserve and, as it concentrates in the syrup, helps preserve the fruit.

The step that matters

Boil until it reaches a good consistency. Sugar syrup thickens as water evaporates and concentrates. Boiling too briefly leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff or sugary, so the cook must judge the set by eye and feel.

“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.

More cherry preserves recipes

Morello 8Spiced 7German 3 See all 54 →

You might also like

White CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipesSpice CakeSpice Cake344 recipes