Easy Homemade Glacé Candied Cherries

Better than store-bought, these sweet, pretty little gems are a perfect way to preserve some of your summer cherry harvest for winter baking, cocktail garnishes, dessert toppings, and more.

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Every year, our massive cherry tree provides us with more sweet cherries than we can possibly eat - or even pick! So it is that every year I am faced with the same dilemma: how to preserve all that delicious ruby red fruit in ways that we will actually use throughout the year. My usual go-tos are cherry cordial, cherry jams and jellies, cherry pie, and dried cherries. And, inevitably, many pounds end up vacuum sealed and packed away in our freezer for cold weather baking endeavors.

This year, I'm adding something new to the mix. Just the other day, while perusing Pinterest, I stumbled across a beautiful image of candied cherries laid out on a crystal plate. There was something so whimsical about that display! I immediately imagined serving these fancy cherry gems atop pretty little cakes at a garden tea party with my girl friends. Or baked into warm spiced goodies at Christmastime with the family.

A Quick and Easy Way to Make Glacé/Candied Cherries

Many Glacé Cherry recipes are quite involved. The traditional method involved several days of soaking cherries in an increasingly concentrated sugar syrup. This recipe only require about an hour on the stovetop, plus the time to pit your cherries. Is it the correct method? Probably not. Does it work and taste delicious? Absolutely!

You can store this recipe one of two ways: Keep a jar of candied cherries in a very thick sweet syrup OR drain and dry the candied cherries to store separately from their syrup (which can be used to top ice cream, make drinks like cherry lemonade, etc. It is entirely up to you which method you choose!

Tools Needed:

Cherry Pitter (optional but VERY helpful)

Large Pot

Jars

Slotted spoon for straining (if drying cherries separately)

Parchment paper for drying (if drying cherries separately)

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh cherries (450g)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300g)

1 cup water (200ml)

Instructions:

Wash, dry, and pit 3 cups of whole fresh cherries.

In a large pot, stir together the sugar and water until the sugar is mostly dissolved (it may not dissolve completely until it heats up and that's fine) and then add your 3 cups of pitted cherries.

Over medium high heat, bring the sugar water to a boil, stirring gently, occasionally, to help the sugar finish dissolving.

Once boiling, reduce the heat to just maintain a simmer. Simmer the cherries for about an hour, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, being careful not to mash or pierce the cherries.

During the last 10-15 minutes, watch the pot carefully and stir frequently to prevent burning. The syrup becomes quite thick at this point.

Remove the pot from the heat and choose from the next two methods:

1. To Store in Jars with Syrup

   - Ladle cherries and syrup into prepared, hot, sterilized glass jars.

   - Wipe any syrup off the rims and lid the jars

   - Water bath can using proper methods - OR - let the jars cool and store them in the fridge.. The high sugar content + refrigeration should combat mold growth for many months!

   
   

2. To Store Candied Cherries Without Syrup:

   - Use a slotted spoon to remove cherries from the syrup and drain them

   - To dry the cherries, you can either use your oven on the lowest setting, or a dehydrator if you have one.

   • For the oven, arrange the cherries on a baking sheet (or two) covered with parchment paper. Be sure to leave space between the fruit for airflow. Set the oven to the lowest it goes (170f or lower) and bake for 10 to 12 hours, flipping the cherries over at about the 5 hour mark. They are done when they no longer feel sticky and have the consistency of a raisin.

   • For a dehydrator, arrange the cherries with space for airflow and set your dehydrator to 135f. Dry time can vary from 12 to 24 hours depending on your model. The cherries are done drying when they no longer feel sticky and have the consistency of a raisin.

3. Allow to cool completely. Failure to do so will trap moisture in your storage container and can cause mold!

4. Store your dried candied cherries in a lidded container such as a tin or glass reusable food storage container. I suggest storing them in single layers with parchment paper in between each layer, to prevent the cherries from sticking to each other.

5. You can keep the syrup too! Poor it in a jar and keep it in the fridge. It's a delicious topping for desserts like ice cream, and a spoonful turns a glass of regular lemonade into a festive cherry lemonade in a jiffy!