The red wine cherries are soft and aromatic. Can them now and enjoy some of the summer flavors later on this year.
Ingredients: 7 | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Servings: 4 large jars | Difficulty: Easy
Red wine cherries are another boozy way of preserving cherries. I've already gone over the top this summer! After making Kirsch Cherries and Amaretto Cherries, it was time for some cherries in wine.
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Recipe ingredients
Cherries: Bing and Picota are some of the better-known varieties, but any sweet ones would be fine.
Red wine: No need for expensive wine - spices, sugar, and cooking will mask subtle flavors. I used an off-dry Burgundy I found on sale.
Amaretto adds extra flavor; add it at the end. Make some Amaretto and Cherry Ice Cream, too.
Spices: Cinnamon, vanilla, and star anise. Star anise has been my spice of choice in combination with cherries this year.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make red wine cherries?
Step #1: Pit the cherries with a cherry pitter (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).
Step #2: Place them into jars.
Step #3: Combine wine, sugar, and spices in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 3 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Add Amaretto.
Step #4: Carefully pour over the fruit and seal the jars. Can in a water bath or in a canner for 25 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
How to can the jars?
In a water bath: Place a folded kitchen towel in a large pot. Arrange the jars in the pot, ensuring they don't touch each other. Cover with hot water, bring to a boil, and boil gently for 25 minutes. Carefully remove from the water using a jar lifter. Place on kitchen towels or a cutting board and let cool completely.
In the canner: Use it according to its instructions. Try these Preserved Cherries, too.
Storage
The wine cherries keep well for at least 6 months and up to 1 year. Store them in a cool, dark place like a cellar.
Once you open a jar, keep it refrigerated.
How to use wine cherries?
I have to admit that we sometimes spoon them out of the jar for a quick dessert, especially if I have them left over from making something else. They are so tasty!
You can make a cherry sauce by thickening the liquid with cornstarch and stirring in the cherries. Serve them over ice cream, German waffles, pancakes, or rice pudding.
Cakes: Use for cakes or cake fillings. And the liquid for moistening cake bases. Make a boozy trifle.
Red Wine Cherries
Equipment
- 4 Jars of about 500 ml/ 17 fl.oz/ 2 cups capacity
- Small saucepan
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs cherries
- 2 cups red wine Note 1
- ยฝ cup granulated sugar or light brown sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick Note 2
- 1 star anise
- ยฝ vanilla bean Note 3
- โ cup Amaretto
Instructions
- Pit the cherries and place them into clean jars. 2.2 lbs cherries
- Combine: Pour the wine into a saucepan, add the sugar and the spices.2 cups red wine + ยฝ cup granulated sugar + 1 cinnamon stick + 1 star anise + ยฝ vanilla bean
- Simmer wine: Bring it gently to a boil and let simmer for 3 minutes, the sugar should be completely dissolved. Add the Amaretto or brandy (and vanilla extract, if that is what you are using). Remove the spices.โ cup Amaretto
- Fill cherry jars: Carefully, pour the wine over the cherries in the jars. The cherries should be completely covered. The liquid should be enough; if it's not, top with more wine from the bottle (most bottles contain 25 fl. oz/ 750 ml wine anyway).
- Seal the jars. Can in a water bath or in a canner for 25 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
Can in a water bath:
- Water bath canning: Place a folded kitchen towel in a large pot. Arrange the jars in the pot, making sure that they don't touch each other. Cover with hot water, bring to a boil, and boil gently for 25 minutes.
- Let wine cherries cool: Carefully remove from the water using a jar lifter. Place on kitchen towels or a cutting board and let cool completely.
- Canner: Use it according to its instructions.
- Store the jars in a dark, cool place. They will keep for at least 6 months and up to 1 year. Once you open a jar, keep it refrigerated.
Notes
- Red wine: You donโt need fancy wine - spices, sugar, and cooking cover the taste. I used an off-dry Burgundy I bought on sale.
- Alternative spices: If available, you can spice the wine with ยฝ a small tonka bean instead of all the other spices.
- Vanilla: Replace the vanilla bean with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, added with the Amaretto.
linda says
need some advice I have 2 bing cherrie trees that really produce I washes the cherries with pits in put in mason jars and covered it with sweet red wine the next year I saw mold on some I thought the alcohol would preserve it I just want to eat the cherries and drink the wine what did I do wrong? I did not wan syrup just to drink Pleas advice what do I need to do
Adina says
Hi Linda. Covering the cherries with wine is not enough to preserve them and it would be dangerous if you eat them like that. The wine doesn't have enough alcohol to preserve anything on its own. What you have to do is to find detailed recipes on how to preserve stuff and really follow them, you need to can almost everything in water bath, you need the right amounts of alcohol, sugar (if necessary) and details on how to can the jars and how long to can different preserves. Canning is a science and if you don't do it properly you will just waste the ingredients and endanger yourself. The recipe above also includes canning the jars, it is impossible to keep the cherries for longer without canning them first.