How to Boil Cherry Pits

Boiling cherry pits is one way of infusing an even stronger cherry taste to a cherry poaching liquid. When you combine cherry pits with assorted spices and boil these ingredients together, the result is a distinctive and strong base for your cherry poaching liquid. After allowing the liquid to boil and then cool, you finally add the cherries and cook them. Remove the cherries after they cook and what remains is a liquid with the strong essence of cherry. You can use this cherry liquid to flavor drinks or make dessert sauces.

Things You'll Need

• 2 lbs. tart cherries (pitted but set the pits aside)
• Cherry pitter
• Nutcracker
• Cheesecloth
• 5 pieces whole anise
• 5 pieces long pepper
• 2 oranges (peeled -- reserve the peels)
• String
• 3 cups port wine
• 3 cups water
• 2-quart saucepan
• 2 to 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• Stovetop

Instructions

1. Pit the cherries. Place the cherries in a bowl and the pits in another bowl. Use a nutcracker to crack the cherry pits slightly.

2. Cut a 12-inch square of cheesecloth and lay it out onto the counter. Place the cherry pits, the anise, the long pepper and the orange peels on the cheesecloth and tie the cheesecloth with string around the ingredients. Tie the cheesecloth tightly to make sure it is secure.

3. Measure and pour the wine and water into the saucepan. Add the sugar and the salt to the saucepan. Stir the ingredients well. Place the cheesecloth into the saucepan.

4. Place the saucepan onto the stovetop and boil the ingredients on medium-high. Reduce the heat to medium-low after it boils and cook the ingredients for 20 minutes.

5. Remove the saucepan from the stovetop after 20 minutes and allow the liquid to cool completely.

6. Add the pitted cherries to the pot and return the saucepan to the stovetop. Set the burner to medium-high and boil the ingredients again. Reduce the heat to medium-low again and cook for five to 10 minutes until the cherries are soft.

7. Remove the saucepan from the stovetop and remove the cherries from the poaching liquid. Remove the cheesecloth and discard.

8. Use the poaching liquid as you desire.

References

• Sunset magazine