Sour Cherry Spoon Fruit

• • • Makes 1½ pints • • •

These sticky, sweet-tart preserves are delicious spooned on Greek yogurt or vanilla ice cream. But my favorite way to enjoy them is this: Toast a slice or two of good Italian bread. Spread fresh ricotta (page 203) on top and then spoon the fruit on top of that. Heaven.

1½ pounds (680 g) fresh sour cherries (about 4 cups), pitted (see Cook’s Note) with pits reserved

1 cup (140 g) dried sour cherries

2 cups (400 g) vanilla sugar (see page 57)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ vanilla bean

Equipment

3 sterilized ½-pint jars and their lids

Tight-weave cheesecloth

Kitchen twine

Basic water-bath canning equipment (see page 15)

1 • Combine the fresh and dried cherries, sugar, and lemon juice in a nonreactive heavy-bottomed saucepan or preserving pot. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the pan, along with the pod. Let the cherries macerate for about 1 hour. Tie the reserved pits in a piece of cheesecloth with the twine and add the bundle to the pot.

2 • Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Cook at a lively simmer, stirring often, until the mixture has darkened and begun to thicken, 20 to 30 minutes.

3 • Continue to boil until the mixture reaches 220°F and you can drag a path along the bottom of the pot with a silicone spatula. Or use the freezer plate method to test for doneness as described on page 83.

4 • Remove and discard the cheesecloth bundle. Ladle the hot fruit into the jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe the rims clean if necessary with a clean, damp cloth, and screw the lids on the jars.

5 • Process the jars in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes (see Water-Bath Canning, page 15). Remove the jars and set them upright on a clean kitchen towel. Let the jars cool to room temperature before storing in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. Refrigerate after opening. Store any jars that fail to seal properly in the refrigerator and use those first.

Cook’s Note • To remove the pits from sour cherries, unbend a clean paper clip into a long “S”-shaped wire with two curved ends. Gently push the smaller curved end into the cherry through the stem end and scoop out the pit.