Top Hacks for Perfectly Using Cherries in Your Desserts

Cherries are nature’s gift for people with a sweet tooth. Just imagine a bowl of fresh cherries sitting at your table, and you can casually munch the naturally sweet fruit throughout the day, that too, without any guilt. Since cherries are known for their juicy profile and sweet-tart flavor, what better use can they be put to than incorporating them in desserts?

If you love to bake and want to experiment with cherries, this is just the right place to begin. Whether you want to bake irresistible pies, fruity ice cream, or simply a garnish, adding a cherry to your dessert, quite literally will help you elevate its overall flavor and taste. So, no matter if you’re a professional baker or just starting out, here are some hacks to incorporate cherries into your desserts flawlessly every time.

Tips and Tricks to Use Cherries in Your Desserts

1. Pitting Cherries

Removing the pits of cherries is the first step before you can use the fruit in your desserts. Since removing one pit at a time can be excruciating, you need a better and quicker way. The easiest way to do so is to get a cherry pitter. However, if you don’t have a cherry pitter, you can always try some hacks. The first way to remove the pits faster is to freeze the cherries. Since the frozen flesh of cherries will be firm, it would save you a lot of time while removing the pits. Another hack is to blanch the cherries in boiling water and then immediately transfer them to ice water. This process will make the skin loose, and you can quickly get rid of the pits.

2. Preserving Cherries

Cherries would not last all year long. If you want to keep using cherries in your desserts after the season is over, you must know some hacks to preserve the fruit. One of the best ways to keep the flavor intact is by freezing the cherries. You can do so by washing, removing the pits, and then storing them in an airtight freezer bag. Alternatively, you can also can the cherries by storing them in a simple syrup.

3. Enhancing The Flavor

After you preserve the cherries, it might be possible to lose some flavor along the way. Whenever you take the preserved cherries out to use, there are a few ways you can enhance the flavor. The easiest way to do so is to toast the pitted cherries over medium heat for a few minutes. If you want to incorporate cherries into festive desserts, you can also infuse the fruit with spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, etc. To make an indulgent topping, you can pair the cherries with additional flavors. Depending on the dessert you’re making, you can use vanilla essence, almonds, chocolate sauce, and even citrus fruits.

4. Creating Cherry Glaze

If you want to decorate your desserts with cherries, you can make different types of glaze as per your requirements. Some of the most popularly used glazes are as follows:

• Simple Glaze: For a shiny red-colored cherry glaze, you can make a syrup by dissolving sugar in water. Give the syrup a boil and brush the glossy mixture over the desserts.
• Fruit Glaze: If you want to add a fruity flavor to the desserts, you can mix cherries with any fruit juice and sugar.
• Chocolate Glaze: Perfect for chocolate lovers, you can melt some chocolate and add in pureed cherries. Just drizzle on your desserts, and enjoy.

5. Preventing Color Bleeding

While you are working with cherries, color bleeding is quite common to occur. To prevent any color bleeding, you can add a little lemon juice or citric acid before adding the cherries to your desserts. You can also cook the cherries for a couple of minutes so that they don’t lose their bright red color. Also, if possible, try to use frozen cherries as they often retain their color better than the fresh batch.

6. Cherry Compote

Making cherry compote, aka cherry sauce, is one of the easiest ways to preserve the fruit and add a fruity taste to the desserts. You can make a cherry compote by pitting the cherries and simmering the skin with sugar, water, and a squeeze of lemon. Once you get a smooth consistency, you can store it till you want to add the flavor of cherries to your desserts.

7. Using In Desserts

Once you have taken all the precautions to get the best of cherries, don’t be afraid to experiment with the fruit. You can use the pureed cherries or cherry compote in pies and tarts. For a summer dessert, you can use canned cherries to make popsicles, ice creams, and sorbets. And if you just want to decorate with cherry-flavored icing, you can make a fruity frosting and add to cakes, cupcakes, and pastries.