Post #591032 by jingleheimerschmidt on Fri, May 27, 2011 10:55 AM

Well, I have a whole tree full of cherries (bing?) that will be ripe in about a week. Before the birds and my kids eat them all, I thought about making some homemade maraschino cherries. Do any of y'all have any experience in making their own? The interwires tell me that there are at least brandy soaked, bourbon soaked, and maraschino liqueur soaked varieties. For my tiki cocktails, cherries go on top. For Manhattans and Old Fashioneds, they take a plunge. So, the base liquor appears to be of some importance. Anyhow, any input would be helpful.

Cheers!

Here's a recipe pulled from the maraschino liqueur thread:

On 2008-10-25 16:57, Kahuna Kent wrote:
Luxardo Maraschino is the important ingredient in making homemade maraschino cherries. Once you try these, you'll never go back to the red dye things:

1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 oz lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick (smash it up into 1/2" pieces)
1/3 cup water

Bring to boil in a large saucepan (we want lots of shallow surface area) Then reduce heat to medium

Add 2 lbs washed cherries (you can remove the pits if you want - I like to keep them "natural")

Simmer 5 minutes to release the cherry flavor into the "soup"

Add 6 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1 oz Cognac

Heat on low, stirring the concoction for another 5 or 6 minutes

Remove from heat.

Stir in 1 oz Orgeat.

Allow to cool - put a jar - then into the fridge

The cherries make an awesome addition to your favorite cocktails - and the "Maraschino Cherry" juice is delicious - (but powerfully strong flavor - especially if you use Luxardo - use this sparingly)- try 1/4 oz - 1/2 oz in your favorite "zombie" recipe to make a "Blood Zombie" for Halloween!