These homemade MARASCHINO CHERRIES are nothing like the florescent-red orbs you think of in a Mai Tai or Shirley Temple…or the one offensive fruit you have to pick out of canned fruit cocktail. We make these MARASCHINO CHERRIES every year. It’s as simple as lightly poaching fresh cherries in a liquid of Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, sugar, lemon juice and water. No preservatives, no fructose, no food dye, no chemical bleaching. Yes — the bright red ones get bleached in a solution to remove their natural pigment (and flavour) before bright red colour is added. No wonder they suck.
Nothing makes a home cocktail as special as a homemade component like these deliciously syrupy MARASCHINO CHERRIES. But I urge you to think beyond cocktails. Once you taste one, it will absolutely take all your restraint not to eat the rest straight out of the jar. They are totally divine on desserts like cheesecake, panna cotta, Eton’s mess or simply on a scoop of vanilla ice cream which I highly, highly recommend.
I wrote this recipe for 1 pound of cherries so it can be scaled up easily. We tend to make at least 3 lbs of these MARASCHINO CHERRIES each season because they are so. darn. good.
It’s up to you whether you leave the cherry stems or remove them. Stem-on cherries look lovely in cocktails and as a crowning jewel on a sundae. But stem-off cherries work better for piling on top of desserts. I demonstrate both options in the photos by stemming half and leaving the other half unstemmed. Feel free to make a batch of each! As for the cherry pit, I definitely recommend removing those. One year I was lazy and left them, thinking it’s no big deal since that’s how fresh cherries are eaten anyway? Big regrets. While they do look nicer without the hole created by pitting, having the spit out the pit is a less elegant and enjoyable way to eat them.
If you have a recipe question or food for thought to share with me, I’d love to hear about it. Drop it in the comments below!
Eat well and be well,
Sonia 🍒
recipe head notes - homemade maraschino cherries
1. What type of cherry should I use?
Traditional recipes call for a type of tart cherries (Morello cherries) which are brighter red and have a nice tartness. In the Pacific Northeast the sour cherry season is very brief. If you blinked and missed that 2-week tart cherry season, you can use any variety of sweet red cherries. I don’t recommend using yellow (Ranier) cherries purely for aesthetic reasons – they end up looking really drab. The nice deep red colour of these Maraschino cherries come naturally from the skin of the red cherries.
2. Do I need a cherry pitter to make this recipe?
While you could leave the pits in, maraschino cherries are significantly much more enjoyable with the pits removed. I was lazy one year and kept them in and regretted that decision. The great thing is, a cherry pitter gets the job done quickly. I’ve had mine so long I don’t know what brand it is but it looks similar to the affordable Oxo cherry pitter and works great. You can also google cherry pitting hacks online to do the job without a pitter!
3. Should I leave the stems on or pull them off?
Depending on preference and use, you can either leave the stems intact or remove them. If making Maraschino cherries for cocktails, a cherry with stem is ideal. For topping ice cream or other desserts, pull the stems off. Personally, I like to make some of each for each purpose. Choose the cherries with the nice long stems out of the bunch to keep for cocktails.
4. Scale up for bigger batch:
I wrote this recipe for 1 pound of cherries so it’s easy to scale up. We tend to make at least 3 to 5 pounds each year. We keep them in the basement fridge and they last for many months – make sure fruit is fully submerged in the liquid during storage and they’ll be good for up to a year until you make them again next season. If you follow proper jarring procedure, then they can store out of the fridge for just as long if not longer.
5. make ahead:
You may use the Maraschino cherries right away but the longer they sit, the better the flavour becomes.
Homemade Maraschino Cherries
Prep: 15 minutes | Cook: 10 minutes | Total: 25 minutes
Recipe written for 1 pound of cherries so that it can be easily scaled up easily. Use these homemade maraschino cherries in cocktails (highly recommend) or ice cream sundaes (highly, highly recommend).
INGREDIENTS.
1 lb (450g) cherries, sweet or sour, stems intact or removed – see notes 1, 2 & 3
½ C (95g) granulated sugar
1/3 C (80ml) water
Juice of half a lemon
Pinch of salt
1 C (240ml) Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
METHOD.
Add sugar, water, lemon juice and salt into a medium saucepan over medium heat and simmer until sugar is completely dissolved. Add maraschino liqueur and bring to a simmer for 3 minutes to cook off some of the alcohol taste. Add the cherries and simmer low for another 3 minutes. Turn off heat and cool. Place in jars for storage, making sure cherries are completely covered by liquid. You may follow canning procedure or simply store in the fridge like we do, for many months. You may use the cherries almost right away but the longer they sit, the better the flavour becomes.
Enjoy!
🎥 watch me make homemade maraschino cherrieS on Instagram:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments below. Or if you make this recipe, tag me on Instagram @ saltnpepperhere or on TikTok @ sonia.saltnpepperhere. I would love that!