I love cherry season!
There's nothing like sitting on the back deck eating fresh cherries and spitting the pits into a paper towel.
Pre-chickens, I used to just spit the pits into the yard, but cherry pits are no good for chickens, so now I spit into a paper towel and then throw them in the trash.
But I digress...
A few years back, I bought several pounds of cherries at the farmer's market and realized that we wouldn't be able to eat them all, so I started looking for recipes to can some or make pie filling.... or something.
And in the end, I decided to try making some cocktail cherries in syrup to give out as holiday gifts - after all, it's never too early to start thinking about that, right?
And handmade is always the way to go.
The nice part is...Even if you're a beginning canner, you can master this recipe. It's really easy to follow. Trust me. Because of the alcohol, the jars don't even need to be sterilized or put in a water bath.
Scroll down for the printable recipe card.
Vanilla Vodka Cocktail Cherries
Makes 4 pints/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 lbs of pitted sweet cherries (investing in a cherry pitter will make your life SO much easier!)
8 vanilla beans, halved and split
Bottle of vodka
Eight 1/2 pint ( 8oz.) canning jars with rings and lids
Bring the 2 cups water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, whisking to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, remove from the heat and set your simple syrup aside to cool.
Fill the jars with the cherries, adding two halves of vanilla bean in each jar, filling the jars about 3/4 full and pressing down a bit to compress the contents.
Then divide the simple syrup between the jars, filling each about 1/4 of the way full with the syrup, then fill to the top with vodka, leaving 1/4" headroom in each jar. Place a lid and ring on each jar and finger tighten.
Then shake the jars well and place the jars in a cool, dark spot for at least two weeks to allow the vodka to infuse into the cherries.
Remove the vanilla bean and discard when you open each jar to use it.
The cherries and syrup can be use to garnish cocktails, poured over ice cream, added to ginger ale, club soda or seltzer for a yummy adult Shirley Temple cocktail or eaten straight up.
