Ten Fantastic Ways to Enjoy Your Summer Cherries

As cherry season winds down, you may find yourself with a leftover stash in your fridge. If you're tired of snacking on them plain but can't bear to waste these beautiful fruits, worry not. From preserving them for later enjoyment to incorporating them into a fun drink, here are several inventive ways to make use of your summer cherries (and even frozen ones) until the next cherry season rolls around.

Create brandied cherries

One of my favorite ways to enjoy cherries is to savor them one by one, still attached to their stems, as a garnish in a cocktail. Brandied cherries are sweet, boozy, and perfect for your favorite Manhattan, added to an old fashioned, or even tossed onto a scoop of ice cream. Plus, making a big batch is a great way to use up your cherry collection.

There are a few different methods for making brandied cherries at home, including the cooked, spiced version or the uncooked version. As you prepare them, decide if you want to leave the pits and stems in (which is much easier for the person making them but trickier for the person eating them), or if you'd rather pit them for your future self to enjoy. Once jarred and tied with a bow, they make a charming gift.

Transform cherries into a delicious fruit compote

Cherries strike a perfect balance between fruit fiber and water content, making them ideal for creating a sauce. A fruit compote is simply fruit that’s been cooked down until it bursts and turns into a flavorful liquid. What was once fruit you didn’t feel like eating raw is now a delicious sauce that you can pair with other foods.

Turn your leftover cherries into a compote by pitting them and placing them in a pot where about half of them touch the bottom. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to prevent burning before they burst. Let them cook over medium-low heat for around 10 minutes, or until the fruit breaks down. If you find they could use a bit more sweetness, stir in a tablespoon of sugar while cooking. This compote makes a great topping for ice cream, pancakes, or cheesecake and will last in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

Pickle your leftover summer cherries

Fruit is often adored for its natural sweetness, but there's also a place for a little tang. Pickling cherries is quite similar to making brandied cherries—simply immerse them in a flavorful liquid and let them sit long enough for the flavors to infuse. The cherries’ natural juices blend with spices like bold black peppercorns, aromatic star anise, and smooth vanilla. After completing the canning process, you can store your pickled cherries to enjoy the taste of summer well into the colder months. These tart little treats are perfect on salads, paired with charcuterie, atop ice cream, or dropped into a whiskey sour.

Turn summer cherries into a light, fluffy clafoutis

Few desserts ease the transition from summer to fall quite like the warm custard known as clafoutis. Easy to prepare with just a handful of ingredients, the smooth custard base allows the cherries to shine. While fresh cherries are typically pitted and added to this dish, frozen cherries work wonderfully as well. Frozen cherries tend to release their purple-red color into the custard as it bakes, so embrace it! Thaw the frozen cherries, then pour the custard into your baking dish, adding the cherries and their juices before giving them a gentle swirl. The dark juice will swirl through the lighter custard, creating a beautiful marbled effect.

Enjoy them glacéed

Transform cherries into sparkling fruity lollipops for a unique spin on candied fruit. Glacéed fruit is made by quickly dipping small pieces of fruit into melted sugar. As the liquid sugar cools, it forms a thin, glossy candy coating. For cherries, cook the sugar to the soft crack stage (270°F to 290°F), then dip the cherries using the stems as handles. Immediately remove from the syrup and shake off the excess. Let them cool on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Alternatively, pit the cherries, remove the stems, and skewer two or three cherries. Dip them into the syrup and let them cool standing in a flower vase to maintain the candy sheen. Serve them on the skewer as a fun, handheld fruit lolly.

Mull leftover cherries in wine

With fall fast approaching, mulled wine is making its return. Embrace the crisp autumn evenings with a cozy glass of cherry gløgg. One of the reasons mulled wine is so beloved is its simplicity: Just toss in a few strips of orange zest (or orange slices, if you prefer), a couple of cinnamon sticks, and one cup of pitted, halved cherries into a container, then cover it all with wine.

I love using a slow cooker for this, as it eliminates the need to worry about an open flame while the wine is mulling. However, you can certainly use a stovetop pot if that’s what you prefer. Let the wine mull, covered, for about 20 minutes before you begin ladling it into cups—though feel free to leave it on the heat a bit longer, as the flavors deepen throughout the evening. Any fruity red wine will do, or take a look at this list for some of the best wines for mulling.

Make use of your cherries by roasting them into a flavorful condiment

You’re probably familiar with roasting meats and root vegetables, but have you ever considered roasting fruit? Roasting in the oven is a foolproof way to intensify the flavors, whether they’re sweet or savory. When you roast cherries, the heat breaks down their cell walls, releasing their juices and evaporating the water. The result is a deeply concentrated cherry flavor.

Depending on what you plan to do with your roasted cherries, you could end up with a delightful dessert (just add some whipped cream or ice cream). Keep some of the juices and give them a boozy twist by adding brandy using this recipe from the Kitchn. You can also toss the roasted cherries with spices for a sweet and savory complement to other dishes. Roasted cherries pair wonderfully with Mediterranean grain dishes, on a warm balsamic chicken salad, spooned over roasted meats, or served alongside a cheese or mezze platter.

Make a cherry pie, of course

This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s such an essential cherry dessert that I couldn’t leave it off the list. Cherry pie is a perfect way to showcase a bounty of cherries in one go. Like clafoutis, you can use either fresh or frozen cherries to make your pie. However, I highly recommend cooking the cherry filling before baking, rather than relying on the raw-filling method. Cooking the filling first allows you to control the thickness of the fruit mixture. Since cherries contain a lot of water, pre-cooking the filling helps prevent a runny pie filling, which can ruin the final dish.

Pit the cherries and begin just like you would for a cherry compote. Once the cherry juice starts to simmer, add a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch mixed with a small amount of cold water) gradually while stirring. When you achieve the desired consistency, remove the filling from the heat and allow it to cool before placing it in the pie crust.

Try a cherry gelee

If you're in the mood for something different, unleash your creative side with a cherry gelee dessert from Martha Stewart. Cherry gelee is made by simmering the fruit juice or puree and adding gelatin. You can mix it as it sets, as in Mattie’s recipe, to create a soft, spoonable texture, or leave it to fully set without stirring. This gelee can be poured onto mousses, cut into shapes, or used as a layer in other desserts, like in this recipe from the American Culinary Federation.

Preserve your summer cherries by drying them in the oven

Drying cherries is an excellent way to enjoy these summer fruits long after the season ends. If canning them with vinegar isn’t your thing, oven-drying can be a simpler, and even more cost-effective option. (Dried cherries can be pricey in the winter.) As you prepare to bake granola, fruit-filled breads, and cakes, why not also make a batch of dried cherries to store in airtight containers, ready for use throughout the colder months?

To make oven-dried cherries, begin by pitting and stemming the cherries. Then spread them out on a wire rack placed over a baking sheet (to catch any drips). Set the cherries in a 200°F oven for about six hours. Initially, they’ll be soft, but they will firm up as they cool. Depending on your storage environment, tightly sealed jars of dried cherries can last anywhere from six months to a year. That’s plenty of time to top your oatmeal until April, eagerly awaiting the arrival of next summer’s cherry harvest.