summerdrink: sarah's diy maraschino cherries
Jun 29, 2011 
My dad’s favorite drink was a Perfect Manhattan on the rocks with two Maraschino cherries. My sister and I would fight to the death at the dinner table with our Shirley Temple swords to get our hands on the cherries in his drink, so he would always spare himself the inevitable scene and order it with two.
Cherry season is in full swing now and as a shout out to my late, great dad, I decided to try making these little delights from scratch. The jarred, red dye #9 variety will always have a special place in my heart, but these are a nice change-up in the summer pantry and could not be easier to make. And the result are sweet and boozy little fruits that are equally good in a summer cocktail as they are topping a sundae (adult style, of course.)
Store-bought Maraschino cherries are typically made with Italian Marasca cherries, but I used red Bings and yellow Rainiers to keep this local and lazy. The recipe is little more than soaking the cherries in Italian Luxardo Maraschino liquor for a few weeks. With notes of honey and almonds, it gives the cherries their undeniable “maraschino-ness.”
If you do decide to use a Rainier cherry, which has a beautiful, yellow and pink colored skin, they will brown slightly over time as they soak in the liquor. But no worries. They are still delicious, and perfect, in my dad’s Perfect Manhattan.
-Sarah
Recipe:
This recipe yields one pint size jar of cherries, but you can use any size container you like and adjust the quantities. TAKE NOTE! These cherries have the pits intact, so a warning to your guests might be in order to avoid any party dental injuries.
1 clean canning jar with lid
About 1 dozen cherries, any variety you prefer
Maraschino Liquor to cover cherries, about 1/3 cup
1 tsp honey
Pack jar with cherries. You don’t want the cherries smashed in the glass jar, but do make sure they are packed tightly as the cherries will float and anything that is above the booze line will brown.
Add honey to liquor and stir to dissolve. Pour over cherries and cover completely. Top with a lid and refrigerate.
Try to wait 2 weeks.
drinks, maraschino cherries, preserves, sarah in food and drink
Reader Comments (11)
These cherries make me happy. I'm also dying for the perfect Manhattan recipe!
Adding booze to cherries is making a great thing better! I'm going to stock the pantry and wow my guests with boozy cherries and homemade ice cream. Mmmm, delish!
At first glance I wasn't grabbed by this idea but looking at the pictures won me over. Those cherries look delicious!! I'm heading to the market now
I have wanted to know how to do this for years (yet too lazy to investigate).
Thank you Sarah and Kelly!
So is the Maraschino liquor something every state liquor store carries or did you have to do an oregon or idaho run?
You should not have to search for and wide for Maraschino liquor at all. I picked it up at my local, WA State run liquor store. Tall green bottle with that Italian, Chianti-style woven basket bottom.
I have to try this! My sister and I would also fight over the cherries! She'll freak out when I send her this recipe :)
how fancy! I saw some cherries at the farmer's market this weekend, so I will be doing this next week. I just hope that the liquor isn't too hard to come by...
I love these photos: the colours, the subjects! : )
I love these photos: the colours, the subjects! : )
This is such a great idea. I love Manhattans. I'm making some of these cherries this week.