Cherry Compote | Cherry Sauce | Cherry Syrup
We are at the beginning of Cherry season in Germany and I couldn’t hold myself back when I saw this deep-red stone fruit at the farmer’s market. Came home with a bag of them and munched on half of them and the rest went into the making of this post viz. the Cherry Compote. Compote refers to fruit (fresh/ canned/ dried) stewed in sugar syrup along with optional flavourings.
How to make Cherry Compote
To begin with, wash the cherries well, remove the stems and pit them. There are few different ways of pitting cherries. The easiest of them is to use a Cherry pitter. If you don’t have one, you can use a thick straw instead of a pitter. Push it through the cherry from the stem-end, pushing out the pit from the other end. Another method is to use a paring knife and cut the cherry in half, lengthwise all around the pit and twist it like an avocado, separate the halves and remove the pit with your finger or knife.
Do remember that the latter two pitting methods can be a bit messy. The first two pitting methods, yield whole cherries and the final one yields halved cherries. Depending on what you prefer in your compote (whole/ halved cherries), you can choose the pitting method accordingly.
In this recipe, we will see how to make a syrup, a sauce and a compote of cherries. Take 2/3rd portion of the pitted cherries in a saucepan and cook them on medium heat. When they start releasing their juices, add water and sugar and continue to cook until well combined and the cherries have let off all their juices and disintegrated. If you desire, at this point you can run a stab-mixer through the saucepan and blitz the disintegrated cherries. Add lemon juice and lemon zest (you can even use orange juice and zest), and cook for a couple of minutes. If you are looking to make Cherry syrup, strain this liquid to get cherry syrup.
To make Cherry sauce, continue cooking without straining the liquid. Add a slurry of cornstarch and water and continue cooking until the mixture thickens into a sauce. To make Cherry Compote, add the remaining pitted cherries to the sauce, mix well and cook for a couple of minutes until the cherries have disintegrated and well coated with the sauce. Take the pan off the heat and allow to cool to room-temperature. You can refrigerate this compote/ sauce/syrup for upto 2 weeks or upto a year if frozen.
This pairs well as a topping for your desserts, ice-creams, cakes and even cereal. Try pairing them with my Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes, you will love it!
Cherry Compote / Sauce / Syrup
Ingredients
- 2 cup Cherries, fresh, pitted, halved and divided
- ¼ cup Water
- 2 tbsp Brown sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla essence
- 1 tbsp Lemon zest (can substitute with orange zest)
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice (can substitute with orange juice)
- 1 tsp Cornstarch (dissolved in 2 tbsp water)
Instructions
Making Cherry Syrup:
- In a saucepan, heat 1½ cup cherries over medium low heat
- When they start releasing their juices, add the water and sugar and continue to cook until well combined and the cherries have released all their juices
- Run a stab mixer in the pan and blitz the cherries a bit
- Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and mix and continue to cook for a couple of minutes
- You can strain the liquid at this point to get the syrup
Making Cherry Sauce:
- To make sauce, do not strain the syrup but continue cooking
- Add the dissolved cornstarch to the saucepan and mix well. Continue to cook until the syrup thickens
Making Cherry Compote:
- To the sauce, add the remaining Cherries and mix carefully and cook for a couple of minutes until they are slightly disintegrated and well coated.
- Take the pan off the heat and let it cool to room temperature
Storing:
- Once cooled down to room temperature, refrigerate the syrup/ sauce/ compote in an air-tight container for upto 2 weeks (see notes)
Notes
- If Frozen, the cherry sauce/ syrup/ compote can be enjoyed for upto a year.
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