If there is one fruit I’d reintroduce into the British cooking, it’s sour cherries such as morellos. They’re utterly delicious lightly cooked in pies, tarts, baked batter puddings (see Cook now), fritters and, of course, ice creams and jellies. They combine a light acidity with an intense cherry flavour that is too good to resist.
They’re coming into season now at the end of July, and are worth buying whenever you see them. For further information click on to Sharp Practice on my Lucky dip page.
This is one of my favourite sour cherry recipes. It makes a very pretty pink sorbet. In a perfect world, try and allow the taste of this delicate flavoured water ice to mature for 24 hours in the freezer. Impossible, I know!
Serves 4
450g morello or other sour cherry
115g granulated sugar
300ml cold water
2 tablespoons kirsch
1 Wash, stem and stone the cherries. They’re very easy to stone, if you run a small-serrated knife around their circumference, you can easily prize the stone from their hearts. Ideally, stone them over a non-corrosive saucepan, so that you can save their juice.
2 Place the cherries, sugar and water in the non-corrosive saucepan. Set over a low heat and stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Bring up to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes, then cover and leave until tepid.
3 Strain the cherry juice into a jug and place the cherries in a food processor. Whiz until they form a puree, then mix into the juice. This will give the water ice tiny flecks of cherry skin. If you like a super-smooth sorbet, push the liquid through a fine sieve.
4 Add the kirsch, cover and chill until cold. Stir and pour into an ice cream machine. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Scrape into a freezer container, cover and freeze until needed. The flavour will develop if left for 24 hours.
