Candied cherries have real flavor when made this quick and easy way.
Every year I make candied cherries for fruitcake season. The traditional method can be lengthy and, while it yields cherries without the neon color of many store-bought varieties, they often lack a true cherry flavor.
I experimented and developed a much quicker process that produces candied cherries with genuine taste: slightly sweet, pleasantly syrupy, and with a real cherry note. This method is faster than the long candying techniques but still gives a satisfying result.
These cherries are not preserved with as much sugar as the slow, heavily sugared versions, so I’m not certain how long they will keep compared with those. However, the technique should work well with frozen cherries, too, which means you can make them when fresh fruit is out of season.
- 3 cups pitted, halved sweet cherries
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- Additional sugar for coating, as needed
- Combine 1½ cups sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about 8 minutes, until it reaches the soft thread stage (about 232°F/111°C).
- Add the cherries and continue to simmer gently, stirring only enough to ensure the fruit is coated with syrup.
- Maintain a gentle simmer and cook for 50–60 minutes without stirring; the syrup will thicken and coat the cherries.
- Drain the cherries and let them cool slightly. Roll each cherry in additional sugar to coat.
- Allow the cherries to dry overnight on a rack or parchment. Once dry, transfer to an airtight container for storage.
- Tip: Reserve the leftover syrup to candy another batch of cherries or to sweeten iced tea or sparkling water.
Candied cherries are versatile: add them to fruitcake, toss a few into salads, use them to decorate tarts or celebration cakes, or enjoy them straight from the jar as a sweet snack.