Dried Cherries -- more like glacéed

In my last post, I showed how I pickled cherries using a recipe from the 1887 White House Cook Book.  Today I am drying cherries, but because they are cooked in a sugar syrup, they are what I would call "glacé" instead of just dried. 

The recipe comes from the 1844 edition of The Lady's Own Cookery Book, by Charlotte Campbell Bury.





I want to quote from the preface, which has parts I find amusing:

Moving in the first circles of rank and fashion, her associations have qualified her to furnish directions adapted to the manners and taste of the most refined Luxury; whilst long and attentive observation, and the communications of an extensive acquaintance, have enabled her equally to accommodate them to the use of persons of less ample means and of simpler and more economical habits.

In other words, you can be assured these are classy recipes that you can afford!

Also,

The professed Cook may perhaps be disposed to form a mean estimate of these pages, because few, or no learned, or technical, terms are employed in them; but this circumstance, so far from operating to the disparagement of the work, must prove a strong recommendation to the Public in general.  The chief aim, in fact, of the noble Authoress has been to furnish such plain directions, in every branch of the culinary art, as shall be really useful to English masters and English servants, and to the humble but earnest practitioner.

So don't worry, Dear Reader, that the recipes don't look complicated.  The author's goal was to make it simple for you to follow. 

I am grateful for the author's efforts. 

The recipe is from the Confectionary section:

Cherries, to dry

My Redaction

3 pounds cherries, stoned
1 pound white sugar

That's all, folks!

Mix the cherries and sugar in a container.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Shake occasionally if you can, to mix them some more.

Just mixed and looking dry

The sugar pulls the liquid from the cherries, so when they are very wet and the sugar is dissolved, put into a pan big enough to hold them comfortably.

Juicy and ready to cook

I brought them to a boil and them simmered them until I worried that they might cook too much and fall apart.  The sugar syrup had a chance to penetrate the cherries.

Cooked and soft but still whole

I really didn't know what the Authoress meant by "scald them" so I just drained them -- I kept the syrup! -- and placed them on a grid over a pan.



This is as packed as I was willing to go because I thought it important the cherries shouldn't touch.  So the extras went right on to another pan, without being raised up on the grid.  In both cases, chop sticks were super helpful in handling the sticky cherries.

Preparing to dry

I put them in a warm oven and let them dry overnight.  The next morning I turned all the cherries over and dried them some more.

The Verdict

The result was a flatter, slightly sticky dried cherry.  It was not too sweet and the cherry flavor really came shining through.  My guest tasters were surprised the cherries had been cooked in a sugar syrup. 

Pre-turning

They were delightfully chewy.  We enjoyed eating them as they were but I also think they would be wonderful in a bread, or tossed on a green salad, or sprinkled over oatmeal. 

To store them, I decided to dust them lightly with powdered sugar and toss them until coated.  That way they didn't stick together into a big ball and I could keep them all in a lidded container.  This worked well!

They look like big raisins, but reddish

Success!  Ms. Bury did well with these instructions.  I wish I had the time and cherries to make more as I think they would keep a long time. 

As for the sugar syrup that I drained from the cherries, I added the rest of the fresh cherries and some finely minced, fresh ginger, then cooked them until they formed a thick jam.  I canned them for future use.  The part I tasted was very spicy from the ginger, which went well with the sweet from the cherries and sugar.  Even though the ginger fire mellowed after a week or so, it was still strong enough that most people (not me!) would not want to put it on toast.  I loved it but I think it would be wonderful as a topping on some grilled pork chops.