Luxardo cherries are the perfect cocktail cherry garnish for many cocktails. But luxardo maraschino cherries are not readily available in my area so I made a homemade recipe so I can enjoy and serve them at home.
Other recipes call for sour cherries, and they can be used but sour cherries are not always available in my grocery store. So in this recipe, I use dried cherries in place of fresh or frozen cherries. They are easily found in the grocery store and they make an amazing luxardo cocktail cherry.
Homemade Luxardo Cherry Ingredients:
- Sweetened, dried cherries
- Luxardo Brand cherry liqueur
- Sugar
- Cherry Juice
Recipe Card?
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How to make homemade luxardo cherries:
- Make a simple syrup with sugar and cherry juice.
- Add the dried cherries.
- Portion the soaked cherries into jars.
- Add leftover cherry syrup and top each jar with luxardo.
- Sous vide for 1 hour for the fastest results.
- If sous vide is not available, chill in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
The syrup for these cherries is made with cherry juice and double the portion of sugar. The extra sugar will make a thicker syrup and the cherry juice will infuse more of a sour cherry flavor into the dried cherries.
Can Frozen Cherries Be Used?
I did try this recipe with frozen cherries but I found that they became more watery and not as concentrated with the intense cherry flavor in comparison to the dried cherries. These cherries would be great served on top of sous vide cheesecake.
What are the best fresh cherries to use for Luxardo Cherries?
If you are lucky enough to find fresh, sweet, dark cherries, use those to make your recipe. When my grocery store gets in Bing cherries I am grabbing a few pounds because those are my favorite for this recipe. The flavor is amazing, the texture is perfect and the size is right.
I would not use a sour cherry. They are smaller, and quite frankly...sour. Not what you are looking for when selecting cherries for this recipe. Sour cherries have their place, just not in this recipe.
Making Luxardo Cherries with fresh cherries
Traditionally, fresh cherries are used when making your cocktail cherries. I opt for the dried cherries because they are available year-round. But once fresh cherries hit the store shelves, it is time to make a batch with fresh cherries.
- Wash, dry and remove the pit and stem from each cherry.
- Make the simple syrup with sugar and water. Turn off the heat and add the Luxardo liquor to the simple syrup.
- Add the pitted cherries to the syrup and bring to a slight simmer.
- Simmer for 10-15 minutes, allowing the cherries to soften slightly, absorbing the syrup.
- Turn off the heat and allow to cool completely in the syrup.
- Store the cherries along with the cooled syrup in a jar in the refrigerator.
Sous Vide Instructions:
- Prepare the cherry simple syrup.
- Soak the dried cherries.
- Fill the jars.
- Top the jars with 50/50 cherry syrup and Luxardo.
- Close the jars and cook for 1 hour in a sous vide bath.
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Ingredients
- 1 pound (453 ⅗ g) Sweetened dried cherries
- 2 Cups (400 g) Sugar
- 1 Cup (236 g) Cherry Juice
- 1 Cup (236 g) Luxardo Brand cherry liqueur as needed
Instructions
- In a sauce pan make a simple syrup with the sugar and cherry juice.2 Cups (400 g) Sugar, 1 Cup (236 g) Cherry Juice
- Add the dried cherries and allow the cherries to soak up the syrup.1 pound (453 ⅗ g) Sweetened
- Allow the cherries to cool.
- Portion the soaked cherries into jars.
- Top each jar with luxardo and leftover cherry syrup in a 50/50 ratio.1 Cup (236 g) Luxardo Brand cherry liqueur
- If sous vide is not available, chill in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Notes
To sous vide the cherries:
Cook the cherries in a 160 water bath for 1 hour. This will speed up the marinating process. Cherries are ready to eat when the hour is up.
I am Sarah Mock. Welcome!
Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 16 years Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.
carla wibel says
Can you can this recipe and store them in the pantry?
Samm says
Won’t the Luxardo liqueur dilute the cherry syrup when it is poured into the jars of cherries? I’m looking to duplicate the thick syrup on the jared Luxardo cherries you can buy in stores, but do it myself.
Thank you