Pickled Cherries

Sometimes you just need to go outside and do something yourself.  I visited the Mile High Ranch recently to pick cherries off their 60+ year old trees.  It was fun and felt like I was getting in touch with nature and history.  Sure, I could have gone to the store and bought cherries, but why not have an adventure?

Luscious, sweet cherries

I came home with 9 pounds of cherries, so of course I had to find something historical to do with them.  I decided against making wine or infusing liquor with them.  I was tempted by desserts and may end up doing one of the boiled or steamed pudding recipes I found.

Today's recipe appealed to me because of the pickled loquats I made while my tree was in full production.  They were tasty to eat and the leftover liquid was good in my tea.  Pickling cherries was high up there on the "Ooooo!  I want to try this!" scale.

I found it in my digital copy of the The White House Cook Book, 1887 version.



The authors, Fanny Lemira Gillette and Hugo Ziemann, have impressive credentials.

Hugo Ziemann was at one time caterer for that Prince Napoleon who was killed while fighting the Zulus in Africa.  He was afterwards steward of the famous Hotel Splendide in Paris.  Later he conducted the celebrated Brunswick Cafe in New York, and still later he gave to the Hotel Richelieu, in Chicago, a cuisine which won the applause of even the gourmets of foreign lands.  ...

Mrs. F. L. Gillette is no less proficient and capable, having made a life-long and thorough study of cookery and housekeeping, especially as adapted to the practical wants of average American homes.

(Publisher's Preface)

The books starts off with directions for carving.  Then it covers a wide range of recipe categories and includes menus for the various seasons, months, and holidays.  It concludes with helpful household management ideas, ranging from "Housekeepers' Time-Table", to dyeing, etiquette, giving dinners, and even measures and weights. 

Today's recipe is from the Pickles section.

Ground spices, not whole

My Notes

I was completely out of whole cloves and never had whole blades of mace, so I chose to use ground spices.  Unfortunately, I didn't see their note about putting the ground spices into a bag, so I put them right into the vinegar/sugar mix for cooking and for pouring over the cherries in the jar.

I chose apple cider vinegar and white sugar.  The authors suggested either apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar for pickling.

The recipe did not specify removing the seeds, so I left the cherries unstoned.  I picked through my haul and chose only the cherries that were firm and unblemished.  I decided to make one quart's worth.

Sure enough, one quart in my measuring cup fit a one quart canning jar!



As per directions, I used "a large cupful" of vinegar, measuring just over 8 ounces.

The vinegar, sugar, and spices went into a small saucepan, brought to a boil, and then simmered for five minutes.

Some spices stuck to the walls.  I did not worry about this.

Once it had cooled, I poured it over the cherries.  It did not fill the jar up; it only filled to about halfway.

Not enough!

So I estimated it needed another 6 ounces of the vinegar/sugar mix, which I made but did not add any more spices to it.  Once that was boiled and cooled, I poured it over the cherries.  It still wasn't enough and I was out of apple cider vinegar, so I topped it off with some white wine vinegar.  I poured straight from the bottle, without adding any sugar or spices.  It only took a few tablespoons to nearly cover the cherries.

Close enough

Then I put on the lid and put it into the refrigerator to pickle.  Lately I have been making refrigerator pickled vegetables, so I know they need at least a few hours for the pickling juice to have an effect on them.  I decided to let them sit overnight.

The Verdict

To recap, I needed twice as much of the vinegar/sugar/spice liquid to cover the cherries.  Roughly 16 to 20 ounces of vinegar.

I tried them the next day.  My reaction was this:  they need more time to actually taste pickled -- mostly they tasted like cherries with a vinegar coating.  Another day is needed for the process.

The next day they were more pickled but were too sour from the vinegar.  I added more sugar, shook the jar, and waited more.

A week later it was still too sour except for a guest taster who REALLY loves vinegar/pickled foods.  I added more sugar and waited again.

A few weeks later, I thought it was almost right.  The liquor is still very sour but the cherries themselves are slightly translucent and pickled all the way through.  The spices add a light note and were not dominant in flavor.



I like them!  Success!  I think they would be good over vanilla ice cream or mixed into a fruit salad (remove the pits first), and they are also good just out of the jar.  I think the liquor would be a good base for a shrub, to have a syrup of some sort mixed into it and then diluted with water.

They were still somewhat sour (that made them "almost right") so I added more sugar.  I'll keep doing that until I am happy with the sweet-sour balance.   I have probably used more than 1/2 cup of white sugar to get it this far.