Dried Cherries
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove stems and pits from the cherries using a quill.
Make the syrup
Boil the sugar with water until it reaches the blown stage.
Add the cherries to the syrup and boil briefly.
Set the mixture aside in an earthen pan overnight.
Strain the syrup.
Add more sugar.
Boil until it reaches a good consistency.
Return the cherries to the syrup.
Boil for five minutes.
Set aside for another day.
Repeat the boiling process for two more days.
Dry
Drain the cherries.
Lay them on wire sieves to dry in a stove or a cool place.
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
- Kentish cherries
- Provide the fruit that becomes the dried product, with flavor concentrated as moisture leaves.
- Granulated sugar
- Replaces the cherries' water as the syrup concentrates, sweetening and helping preserve the fruit.
The step that matters
Boil the sugar with water until it reaches the blown stage. Sugar syrup must be concentrated enough to draw water out of the cherries and inhibit spoilage. Stopping at the wrong stage leaves too much water, so the fruit can ferment or mold instead of drying.
“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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