Author: Karon Grieve
Recipe
While it may be considered somewhat retro Cherry Brandy is still a really popular drink. How to make cherry brandy? Read on my friends and I’ll show you exactly how it’s done and it’s so easy too.
Cherry Brandy is such an old fashioned drink. In fact it used to be known as Cherry Bounce.
Cherry brandy takes me right back to when I was a child and those fancy liqueur chocolates would come out at Christmas, there was always the cherry brandy ones that made you feel all grown up and decadent. Ah those were the days…..
The cherries are really cheap just now and the supermarkets have huge displays of glistening rich red goodness all waiting to be tasted.
We’ve been eating so many lately that i thought it was time I actually made something with them and stopped just stuffing them into my mouth.
How to stone cherries
Now I am being cautious here and I have stoned my cherries. I’ve used my old cherry stoner here but you can also use a coke cottle and straw to stone cherries.
Simply place the cherry in opening of empty bittle and hold in place while you gently pres cown in centre of the cherry with a drinking straw. The stone will pop out into the bottle!
Save the cherry stones
Save those stones, don’t throw them away. You can make Homemade Kirsch with the cherry stones. How’s that for not wasting a thing. Cherry brandy and homemade kirsch from the same batch of cherries!
Of course, you can wait till you fish them out of the brandy at a later date, but by then you may well have sampled said brandy and forget to stone the damn things at all. Then all hell will break loose when you chomp into one of those babies and lose a gnasher! Your dentist will of course be thrilled as they tot up yet another luxury item to their ever-growing wardrobe.
Equipment needed;
I used a 1 kilo kilner jar to make my cherry brandy. But any large jar with a good tight-fitting lid will do nicely.
Ingredients for homemade cherry brandy
- I used just a half bottle of brandy
- 2 punnets of cherries (about 600g)
- 2 tbsp of caster sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick.
Notes
You can also use frozen cherries to make cherry brandy. Just defrost them first.
How to make cherry brandy
- Stone your cherries and pack them into the jar.
- Add the sugar and stir well and pop in the cinnamon stick.
- Pour in the brandy and seal the jar.
- Shake well and put away in a cool dark cupboard for about 2 weeks.
- Shake the jar occasionally.
- Pour through a sieve lined with 2 layers of cheesecloth/muslin or paper towels to remove the cherries
How to serve cherry brandy
You can have this as a shot either chilled or at room temperature. As I’ve shown here with ice and some soda water. Or add your favourite mixer.
Cherry brandy is also good as part of a cocktail and you can pour a dash of it over ice-cream or add to baking and desserts too.
How long will this last?
Your cherry brandy should keep for at least a year stored in a cool dark place.
What to do with the cherries?
Don’t waste this fabulous brandy-soaked fruit. Serve those cherries with ice-cream. Bake them in a pie. Or pop them in the freezer till inspiration strikes.
It’s when you are serving the brandy-soaked cherries that you will thank me for reminding you to remove the stones back at the beginning of this saga!
So that’s how to make cherry brandy in your own kitchen, now I just have to clean up the sticky mess I’ve made…….
Cheers!
Looking for more ways to use those gorgeous summer cherries? Then check out these fun and easy cherry recipes;
Pickled cherries
Homemade Kirsch
Cherry Curd
Cherry Conserve
Spiced cherry gin liqueur
Spiced Cherry Cheese
Looking for more homemade liqueurs to try? Then check out my section.
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Photos And Tips AboveMost of my recipes have step by step photos and useful tips plus videos too, see above.
Cherry Brandy
Karon Grieve
A super easy recipe for how to make cherry brandy, a retro favourite from the cocktail cabinate
3.91 from 21 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 15 minutes mins
Course liqueurs
Cuisine French
Servings 12 servings
Calories 136 kcal
Ingredients
- 500 ml brandy
- 600 g fresh cherries
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
Stone the cherries (remove the pits) and pop them into a large clean jar
add the brandy, sugar and cinnamon stick
seal the jar and shake well, put away in a dark cupboard for 2 weeks shaking regularly
strain through either 2 layers of muslin/cheese cloth or kitchen roll
decant into a sterilised bottle
Notes
This homemade cherry brandy is ready to drink once you have let it mature for the 2 weeks and then strained it into sterilised bottles.
Use on its own or as part of a cocktail.
This will make approximately 500ml of cherry brandy and I have taken the calories from 1 shot.
You can use frozen cherries, just defrost them first.
Nutrition
Calories: 136kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 1mgPotassium: 111mgFiber: 1gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 32IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 9mgIron: 1mg
My Top Tips*Always read the full recipe first. *Assemble all your ingredients and everything you need before you start. *For baking check the size of tins I’m using as this makes a big difference to your cakes. * I use medium sized eggs unless otherwise stated. * I use extra virgin olive oil unless otherwise stated. * I use unsalted butter unless otherwise stated. * Check out My Preserving Kit!
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