These Bing cherries with wine syrup are a bit zingy, plenty sweet, and just the right amount boozy. Together with vanilla ice cream, they make a great adult ice cream sundae. Don’t ice cream? (wha’?!) Spoon them directly into your piehole or slather them on warm Brie cheese.
Adapted from Elizabeth Heiskell | Come On Over! | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021
When we were little, we never had dessert at home. Momma didn’t eat desserts, so I guess she figured no one else needed them. She was a health nut before there was such a thing. Had she not been born in the Mississippi Delta, I am pretty sure she would have joined a commune and lived on granola, hemp, and alfalfa sprouts. The one exception was on our birthdays. But I honestly cannot think of a better way to liven up a boring weeknight than serving dessert. Let’s end this meal with an exclamation point, not a period! This dessert couldn’t be simpler. The ice cream man did half the work, all you have to do is make the sauce.–Elizabeth Heiskell
Bing Cherries With Wine Syrup
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In a glass measuring cup, combine the juices from the cherries with the Kirsch and red wine.
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Add the cherries. Cook over medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens, about 5 minutes.
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Remove from heat and add the almond extract, if using. Let cool slightly. Taste and add more sugar, if needed. Serve the warm sauce over the ice cream.
What’s the difference between cherries?
The easiest way to categorize cherries is by geographic location and sweetness. Sweet cherries, which include Bing, Ulster, and Rainier, are grown mostly in Washington, California, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Sour cherries, such as Montmorency, Morello, and Early Richmond, are primarily from Michigan, New York, and Utah.
What are the best uses for sweet and sour cherries?
Sour cherries are great for baking. Because you can fiddle with the amount of sugar you use, you can customize the elusive once-a-year sour cherry pie, tarts, cakes, and bars to suit your pucker quotient. Also, sour cherries are said to improve sleep and endurance, reduce systolic blood pressure, and minimize muscle soreness and inflammation. Be forewarned: The season for sour cherries is short: June and July, mostly.
Sweet cherries have a longer season–May to August–so no need to rush and make every cherry dish you have. Sweet cherries are great in syrups like this recipe, glazes, rice puddings, ice creams, liqueur, and baked into dishes such as clafouti.
Serving: 1portionCalories: 344kcal (17%)Carbohydrates: 45g (15%)Protein: 5g (10%)Fat: 13g (20%)Saturated Fat: 8g (50%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 52mg (17%)Sodium: 95mg (4%)Potassium: 372mg (11%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 39g (43%)Vitamin A: 537IU (11%)Vitamin C: 5mg (6%)Calcium: 159mg (16%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
Originally published July 10, 2021
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