Glace Cherries

[Biggsy]

I don't understand how anyone can not like glace cherries (and pineapple on pizza, and Lymswold cheese).  Does not compute.  Oh, I have very sophisticated tastes.  

Best use of the cherries I think is in cakes, preferably without any other fruit (perhaps with coconut), or on top of any cakes.

[Deborah]

Flatus
What, all three of you?

Only two of my personalities are mad. My homunculus personality is quite sane.

[Deborah]

Rogerzilla
Add two cans of Anchor UHT spray cream and a willing partner.

I have shown you this post to MrD. He's now very scared.

[Deborah]

It loos like cakes and flapjacks are the order of the day then.

[plum]

Could I put some in a vegetable curry? MrD says it's a crazy idea. However, I've had currants and raisins in a curry. Are cherries a step too far?

I've usually got a bag of Sainsbury's Taste the Difference dried fruit assortment lying around which contains all sorts, including cherries, and I often chuck a handful into curries when the moment seems right. The cherries don't stand out one way or the other. In other words if you like fruit in your curry then go for it [with the caveat that my experience is with a blended dried fruit product rather than one unadulterated mass].

[Deborah]

Thanks Plum

[geraldc]

In Cantonese food, we use cherries as the eyes on roast suckling pigs

[Jaded]

Do they pop?

[citoyen]

In other words if you like fruit in your curry then go for it [with the caveat that my experience is with a blended dried fruit product rather than one unadulterated mass].

Yebbut, are they glace cherries or ordinary dried cherries? The difference is that glace cherries have been soaked in syrup until they're saturated with sugar. In culinary terms, they're more like a cherry-flavoured sugar lump than an actual cherry. I wouldn't put a glace cherry in a savoury dish any more than I'd put a sherbet lemon in a savoury dish.

d.

[plum]

Maybe, though I have a sweet tooth which is why I'm shoving the fruit in in the first place.

Thinking about it, Kulfi for sure. I'd love to try making that from scratch and it sounds like a good combination.

[Ariadne]

I like them - they're good in scones, and I love cherry cake. I could go some right now!

[Mrs Pingu]

Amaretti Cassata:

3 tbsp Amaretto
100g / 4oz whole glacé cherries
25g / 1oz chopped mixed peel
500g mascarpone
3 medium eggs, separated
25g / 1 oz chopped dark chocolate
25g / 1 oz shelled chopped pistachios
75g / 3oz caster sugar
75g / 3oz Amaretti biscuits, lightly crushed
(these can be either the crunchy old school Amarettis or the Amaretti 'morbidi' which are soft - your preference)

Pour Amaretto over cherries & peel & leave for 15 mins.
Beat mascarpone & egg yolks til thick. Stir in cherries, peel & booze. Add chocolate & nuts.
Whisk egg whites & sugar until stiff & glossy (!), fold into mascarpone mixture.
Line 2lb loaf tin with cling film,
Spoon half the mixture into the lined tin, cover with half the crushed biscuits and repeat.
Freeze til firm & then cut into slices to serve.

[Deborah]

Thank you both. I might end up making lots of sweet things and freezing some of them.

[Deborah]

Thanks for that recipe Mrs P. I can do a few of those for the freezer.

[citoyen]

Maybe, though I have a sweet tooth which is why I'm shoving the fruit in in the first place.

That's not the point. Fresh or dried fruit works well in many savoury dishes but candied fruit is a different matter.

Of course, if you like candied fruit in your savoury dishes, that's entirely your prerogative and I won't try to stop you. But I may pass on that dinner invitation.

Thinking about it, Kulfi for sure. I'd love to try making that from scratch and it sounds like a good combination.

Like all Indian desserts, kulfi is characterised by being very sweet indeed, so no reason why glace cherries wouldn't work well in it.

Mrs P's recipe looks like fun too.

d.

[plum]

That's not the point. Fresh or dried fruit works well in many savoury dishes but candied fruit is a different matter.

I see no reason why that should be, after all a glace cherry is going to pretty much dissolve during most cooking processes and will just be adding the flavour of a) cherry b) syrup c) whatever liquor might have been used in the preserving process.

Syrup is often used in savoury dishes, or at least it is if you believe the Tate & Lyle marketing department, so I don't foresee any problem. Hypothetical of course I've never tried, but I promise that if I do I won't be sending any wild horses out to drag you to the table

Oh and another idea if someone hasn't already thought of it - fruit and syrup, perfect for porridge.

'Fun Fact' from the Tate & Lyle website, they use syrup with red dye in it as blood in film studios. So maybe these cherries could be put to some kind of gory body part type use come Halloween.

[Deborah]

As it is suggested above that they will disolve in alcohol, would they make cherry gin (ie a bit like sloe gin)?  I'm not a gin drinker so not sure what it would do to it. Any ideas?

[plum]

I didn't mean dissolve so much as disintegrate, when you cook the dried fruit assortment in a curry for example it just falls to bits so there's not lumps of cherry floating round. I generally chop it up fairly fine anyway to make sure.

[dasmoth]

As it is suggested above that they will disolve in alcohol, would they make cherry gin (ie a bit like sloe gin)?  I'm not a gin drinker so not sure what it would do to it. Any ideas?

Emily made some cherry vodka a couple of months back which turned out pretty well.  But she used dried cherries, rather than glace.  Not sure how well the glaces would work -- maybe okay so long as you don't add much (any?) extra sugar.

Definitely think vodka would be a better choice of spirit than gin in this case.

[Deborah]

Thanks for that information Dasmoth I will try a small experiment with Glace cherries and vodka.

[Deborah]

I might give these a try too.


b]Ingredients[/b]
1 cup (250 ml) almonds, slivered
1/2 cup (125 ml) butter
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) dates, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup (180 ml) sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) candied cherries, cut up
1/2 cup (125 ml) nuts, chopped
3 cups (750 ml) com flakes

How to make Date And Cherry Bites
–  Grill almonds in oven and set aside.
–  Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add dates, sugar and cherries and stir until a soft paste forms.
–  Stir in nuts and cornflakes.
–  Shape into small balls, cool, and roll in the grilled almonds.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

If you can put pineapple on pizza...

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. 

I love glacé cherries. I'd be making them into cakes and scones. Or just eating them out of the tub with a teaspoon seeing as I'm 39 now and my mum can't make me stop.

[Deborah]

I love glacé cherries. I'd be making them into cakes and scones. Or just eating them out of the tub with a teaspoon seeing as I'm 39 now and my mum can't make me stop.
[/quote]

 

[Sergeant Pluck]

If you can put pineapple on pizza...

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. 

Bananas are very nice on pizza 

[citoyen]

Bananas are very nice on pizza 

Congratulations. When's it due?

d.