Cherry Sauce Made with Sweet Cherries

Quick and Easy Homemade Cherry Sauce

How much do we love cherry season??? 

Fresh, sweet cherries are a favorite summer snack around this house. From June through August, you'll almost always find a bag or two in our refrigerator. Besides eating them by the handful and making a few Cherry Crumb Pies, I make an almost embarrassing amount of Cherry Sauce and spoon it over.... 

• Ultra Creamy New York Cheesecake
• Ice Cream
• Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes
• Waffles
• Buttermilk Biscuits
• Perfect Pound Cake
• Lemon Olive Oil Cake
• Vanilla Cake

How to Make Cherry Sauce in 3 Simple Steps:

#1: Dump cherries, sugar, lemon juice, water, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan and cook until the liquid in the pan begins to simmer.

#2. Cook until the cherries start to break down and the sauce has thickened to the consistency of maple syrup. This only takes about 5 minutes. 

#3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in vanilla and almond extracts. That's it! Done and done.

What Kind of Cherries Should You Use?

This sauce uses the plump, juicy sweet cherries that can be found in abundance in almost every supermarket and farmer’s market all summer long. But, if you prefer, you can use sour cherries instead. Just increase the sugar to ¾ cup to balance out the sourness of the cherries. 

The two most common types of sweet cherries are Bing cherries and Rainier cherries. Bing cherries are dark red and, in my experience, more plentiful than Rainier in pretty much every produce section.

Rainier cherries are two toned – red and gold. Either variety will work perfectly well in this cherry sauce recipe, but Bing cherries are usually what I prefer.

Can You Use Frozen Cherries to Make Cherry Sauce?

Yes!  Even though I tend to mostly make this in the summer when fresh cherries are plentiful, cherry sauce in the dead of winter is a welcome treat. 

For those of us who rarely manage to freeze fresh cherries while they're in season, frozen cherries can be found in the freezer section of most supermarkets all year round. 

The only modification you'll need to make to this recipe if you're using frozen cherries is to lengthen the cook time. Frozen cherries usually contain more water than fresh ones, so you'll not only want to allow time for frozen cherries to thaw as they cook, you'll need to cook the sauce long enough to allow excess water to evaporate.

How much more time will that take? Probably only about 5 minutes longer than it takes to cook cherry sauce with fresh cherries. But, be patient if your sauce is taking longer. Just keep simmering and stirring - it's just a matter of time before it thickens up.

Pitting Cherries is the Pits

Ok. It's actually not that bad, and might even be considered fun and relaxing in a meditative kind of way. Had an especially crazy and stressful week? Get yourself a few pounds of cherries, shut yourself in the kitchen, zone out and pit away. You'll feel better.

The easiest way to pit cherries is with a cherry pitter. My favorite cherry pitter is the OXO Good Grips Cherry and Olive Pitter. It has a splatter shield that helps contain cherry juice splatters. “Helps” is the key word in that last sentence. There will still be some splattering and cherry juice has a remarkable ability to stain most everything it touches.

My suggestion is to pit the cherries over a deep bowl so that the sides of the bowl catch most of the errant splatters. Also, you might want to wear an apron and some disposable plastic gloves to keep all that cherry juice from staining your clothing and your hands.

How to Store Cherry Sauce:

This sauce will keep well in the refrigerator for about 5 days. Allow the sauce to cool completely, then scoop it into a jar or other air-tight container before placing it in the refrigerator. It will also freeze well, remaining fresh tasting for about 3 months. 

How to Freeze Cherry Sauce: 

1. Ladle the cherry sauce into jars, leaving about 1-inch of room at the top of the jar.
2. Let the jars sit until cooled to room temperature.
3. Screw the lids onto the jars and place in the freezer. 

Preserving cherry sauce in sealed jars that have been processed in a hot water bath also works well. 

How to Can Cherry Sauce: 

1. Right after cooking the cherry sauce, while it's still warm, ladle it into hot, sterilized jars, leaving about ½-inch of room at the top of the jar.
2. Using a damp cloth or paper towel, wipe the tops of the jar to ensure a clean seal. Cap and screw on the lids; do not tighten the jars super tight.
3. Bring a large pot of water, or water-bath canner, to a rolling boil and gently lower the jars into the boiling water using tongs. The water should cover the jars by at least ½ inch. Let process for 10 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the water for 5 minutes. Remove the jars from the water bath and place on a dry towel laid out on a flat surface. Allow to cool completely.
5. Once the jars are cool, check the seal by gently pressing down on the center of the lid. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If that should happen to a jar or two, just store the cherry sauce in the refrigerator and use it within 3 weeks. (Or freeze for 3 months) Properly sealed jars can be stored in a cool dark place for 12 - 14 months.

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