In the Kitchen with Waffle Pantry

Cherries are a delightful fruit. Gorgeous in color and full of flavor, cherries are rich in potassium, beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin C. The secret to picking good cherries is to look for cherries that are glossy, plump, unblemished and with its stems still attached.

With this recipe, you’ll wind up with a luscious cherry syrup and fresh preserves to keep your taste buds happy for weeks and months to come! Another bonus, you get to put your powdered Belgian pearl sugar bits to good use.

Ingredients

3 cups fresh sweet cherries (washed and de-stemmed)

2 cups Belgian Pearl Sugar (crushed)

1 ½  cups water

Directions

1. Remove pits from cherries. Add cherries and Belgian pearl sugar powder to a medium-size pot. Give everything a stir and allow it to sit for 4 hours. During this time, the cherries will macerate and release their lovely, fruity juices.

2. After the waiting period, turn up to high heat and allow the cherries and sugar to come to a boil. Foam will form at the surface. Skim off the foam with a spoon.

3. Once all the foam has been removed, add a cup of water and boil the mixture at a low simmer for 30 minutes. Feel free to add more or less water as this will determine how much syrup you’ll generate. If you prefer more syrup, add more water (up to a cup and a half).

4. Remove from heat. Once mixture has cooled, separate the syrup from the cherries.

5. Reserve a bit of the syrup for your preserves. For an easy-to-spread consistency, pulse the fruit and a little bit of syrup in a food processor to your desired consistency.

Voila! You now have a batch of our delicious Belgian Cherry Syrup + Preserves. Keep your syrup and preserves fresh by storing in air-tight containers in the refrigerator.

For an easy breakfast or snack, spread the cherry preserves over a toasted english muffin or buttered toast.

And as a perfect summer refreshment, combine a 1/4 cup of the cherry syrup to 3/4 cup of your choice of water, tea, lemonade or club soda. Serve in a tall glass with plenty of ice. Enjoy and cheers to cherries!