How To Store Cherries At Home: 5 Methods You Can Use For Easier Cocktail Making
For the short season that they’re available in India, cherries also tend to spoil quickly if not consumed fresh. Using a host of preservation methods like freezing, dehydrating or even canning ensures that their flavour and textural integrity is maintained long-term – without exerting too much to apply seasonal produce in mixology or miscellaneous utilities in the kitchen. Best used in the form of garnish, cherries are also great when infused into syrups, liquors or even blended to make fruit-based alcoholic slushies. Besides this, storing and preserving cherries at home is a cost-effective way to extend fresh produce as well as prevent the addition of excessive sugars or additives if they’re earmarked to be used in the future. While storage – short term and long term – is an essential kitchen skill to have, it is also encouraging to think up creative ways to make the most of seasonal flavours in food and drink making.
Storing Cherries At Home: Short Term Method
- Avoid rinsing the cherries once they have been purchased and transfer them to a shallow container lined with paper towels.
- Ensure that the stems are intact for better freshness and only wash them just before they’re ready to be used in cocktails or food.
- Refrigerate the stone fruit in the coldest part of your refrigerator since the delicate fruit is susceptible to spoilage quickly.
Storing Cherries At Home: Long Term Methods
Freezing:
- Wash and dry the cherries before pitting them and spreading as a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Freeze until solid before transferring to a freeze-safe bag or container.
- Use in slushies, dessert cocktails, smoothies and milkshakes.
Canning:
- Rinse and drain the cherries before steeping them in a simple syrup made with equal parts sugar and water.
- Once cooled, transfer to sterilised jars and seal tightly for up to a year.
- Use as cocktail garnishes; the syrup as a sweetener or even muddle to add flavour.
Dehydrating:
- Pit the washed cherries and lay out on an oven-proof tray.
- Dry in a low oven at temperatures between 57–63°C.
- Powder it to use for rimming cocktail serving glasses or sprinkle as a finishing touch on drinks.
Cherry Preserves:
- Chop or halve pitted cherries and add them to a pan with some sugar and the juice of half a lime.
- Cook until the fruit has broken down but still has some chunky texture – but most of the moisture has evaporated.
- Cool and refrigerate for up to a month in sterilised glass jars.
- Use in cocktails that require texture or simply dollop over alcohol-infused cakes as a topper.
*Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.
