I await sour cherry season all year long, for they enjoy only a very short season. They arrive in August, after we’ve eaten our fill of sweet cherries. In season for only a fortnight, they disappear for another 50 weeks. I remove their tiny pits and freeze what fruit I can, but the frozen cherries never seem to match the tart complexity of a ripe sour cherry, plucked fresh from the tree and eaten out of hand or made into a dessert right away. A little sugar certainly offsets the cherries’ sourness, but sweet spices like vanilla bean, cinnamon, and cloves envelop that natural sourness, adding depth and complexity. Serve the compote in bowls topped with whipped cream, which softens the cherries’ assertive sourness, or use them to top pancakes or ice cream.
SERVES: 4 TO 6
INGREDIENTS:
- ¾ cup purchased sour cherry juice
- ½ cup unrefined cane sugar
- 2 pounds sour cherries, stemmed and pitted
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons kirsch
- Whipped cream, to serve
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Bring the cherry juice to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Whisk in the sugar and continue stirring until it dissolves.
- Decrease the heat to medium-low, then dump the cherries into the pot and stir in the cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, allspice, and cloves.
- Pour the kirsch into the cherries, cover, and simmer, stirring from time to time, until the cherries are softened and deeply fragrant, about 10 minutes.
- Spoon the compote into bowls and serve warm with whipped cream.
