Cherries, the German Way
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the stalks short on the cherries.
Boil the water and sugar together until it reaches a candy stage.
Ferment
Place the cherries in a new barrel.
Pour the cooled sugar syrup over the cherries.
Seal the barrel tightly, but not too tight at first to prevent bursting.
Roll the barrel every day until fermentation is complete.
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
- Morella cherries
- Provide the fruit, flavour and natural sugars that ferment into the brandy.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation, producing alcohol and adding sweetness.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar into a syrup that carries the cherries through fermentation.
The step that matters
Sealing the barrel. Fermentation releases carbon dioxide gas, so the seal must be loose at first to prevent bursting. Tightening it too early can build enough pressure to split the barrel.
“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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