If you’re in the mood for a fairly easy-to-make, naughty treat that uses plump, in-season B.C. cherries, this column is for you.
That treat is brandied cherries, and I call them naughty because you do, of course, have to lace them with that spirit. But only half a cup of it is required to flavour four cups of cherries, and the result is splendid.
You can make brandied cherries with whole — stem-on and pit-in — sweet cherries, but I prefer to use pitted cherries. Doing that enables me to use the brandied cherries in a host of other ways, as I note below.
Pitting them will take a few minutes, but with a good cherry pitter, a handheld tool sold at most kitchenware stores, you’ll be done before you know it.
Once that is done, you make simple syrup, equal parts water and sugar simmered in a pot until the latter is dissolved. Also simmering in that syrup are spices, bits of cinnamon stick and whole cloves or star anise, flavours that go great with cherries.
Once the syrup is made, you swirl in your cherries and brandy, remove the pot from the heat and cool the fruit to room temperature. The cherries are then transferred to jars and sealed. Let the cherries steep in the syrup for a couple of days until they are ready to enjoy.
The cherries can be enjoyed as is, but I think they’re even better when used to kick up the flavour of another dish or drink. For example, you could spoon some brandied cherries on ice cream, mix some into fruit salad, blend them into a chocolate milkshake, or add some to sangria or a flute of sparkling wine.
As you’ll see by today’s recipes, you can also spoon brandied cherries on crêpes and even use them to anchor a savoury sauce for pork. The brandied cherry syrup called for in both recipes is simply the syrup surrounding the cherries in the jar.
Brandied Cherries
Spiced, boozy cherries you can enjoy as is or use to accent other dishes, such as the crêpes and pork-chop recipes below.
Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus two days of steeping
Cooking time: five minutes
Makes: two (500 mL) jars
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 cinnamon stick, broken into three pieces
4 whole cloves or 2 whole star anise
4 cups sweet cherries, stemmed and pitted (about 1 1/4 lbs./ 570 grams)
1/2 cup brandy
Place sugar, water and spices in small to medium pot set over medium-high heat (my pot was six inches wide and six inches tall). Bring to a simmer and stir until sugar dissolves. Adjust the heat down to maintain that simmer, then simmer five minutes.
Remove pot from the heat and add the cherries and brandy to the syrup. Let cherries cool to room temperature, then divide the fruit and syrup between two 500 mL mason jars. Seal the jars and refrigerate. Steep cherries in the syrup at least two days before enjoying. The refrigerated cherries will keep a month more.
Crêpes with Brandied Cherries and Cream
The crêpes for this deluxe dessert can be made many hours before needed. Cook, stack, cool, cover and refrigerate until ready to fold and reheat for this recipe.
Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus batter resting time
Cooking time: About 15 minutes
Makes: four (three crêpes each servings)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup water
1 tsp sugar
1 pinch salt
2 Tbsp (1/8 cup) butter, melted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 per cent) milk
• a little melted butter for cooking
1 cup whipping cream, whipped until stiff peaks form
32 brandied cherries
• brandied cherry syrup, to taste
• icing sugar for dusting
4 mint sprigs, for garnish
Place eggs in a medium bowl and beat well. Whisk in the water, sugar, salt and 2 Tbsp butter. Gradually whisk in the flour until mixture is completely smooth. Whisk in the milk, creating a thin batter.
Cover batter, refrigerate and let stand for an hour or more. Now give the batter a gentle stir to ensure it has the same consistency top to bottom.
Place an eight- or nine-inch non-stick skillet or well-seasoned crêpe pan over medium heat. Coat the pan’s cooking surface with a tiny bit of melted butter. (You should have to do this only once to ensure the first crêpe is easy to flip. After that, the butter in the batter should ensure they easily do so.)
When the pan is hot, lift it up and use a small ladle to pour about 2 Tbsp of crêpe batter into the pan. Tilt and swirl the batter in the pan until it evenly coats the bottom. Cook the crêpe until it’s almost dry on the surface and light golden on the underside, about 40 to 50 seconds. Use a thin spatula to flip the crêpe over and cook about 20 seconds on the other side.
Invert the crêpe onto a wide plate. Cook the rest of the batter, stacking the hot crêpes on the plate. Fold each crêpe in half, and then in half again. Set crêpes on a large plate. Heat crêpes in the microwave 45 to 60 seconds, or until nice and warm.
Set three folded crêpes on each of four dessert plates. Set eight cherries on the crêpes on each plate and a dollop of the whipped cream. Drizzle a little brandied cherry syrup on the crêpes. Dust the crêpes with icing sugar, garnish each plate with a mint sprig and serve.
Pork Chops for Two with Brandied Cherry Sauce
Seared pillows of pork accented with a rich, sweet-and-sour-tasting cherry sauce.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: About 12 minutes
Makes: two servings
1/4 cup chicken stock or broth
3 Tbsp brandied cherry syrup
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp orange juice
4 (3 oz.) boneless pork chops
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 cup brandied cherries (see Note)
Combine first five ingredients in bowl, then set aside.
Season the pork with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high. Add the pork and cook three to four minutes per side, or until cooked through (pork should have just a hint of pink in the middle). Transfer pork to plate, then discard any excess oil in the skillet.
Set the skillet back over the heat. Whisk the cornstarch into liquid mixture in the bowl until dissolved, then pour into the skillet. Add the cherries, bring to a simmer and cook until a lightly thickened sauce forms, about two minutes. (If the sauce overly reduces, simply add a bit more stock.)
Return the pork to the skillet, turn and coat with the sauce, heat through a minute or two, and serve.
Note: When removing the brandied cherries from the jar for this recipe, be sure to leave the syrup behind, as you’ll need that for the sauce.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His latest is The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook (Appetite by Random House). His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
