So after several batches of Limoncello with lemons, limes, or some combination there of, I thought to try something different but along similar lines. Cherry liqueur...

The basic recipe that I'm doing is 2 pounds of (frozen) sour pie cherries, 3 cups everclear, 3 cups of water, and 3 cups of sugar. The everclear/water is in lieu of the vodka that most recipes I've found on the web call for.

Most recipes call for using fresh cherries, but for ease, I'm going with pitted and frozen. Many of the recipes out there have you include some portion of the pits in the maceration. It is supposed to impart a "nuttiness". I was thinking using almond extract to simulate that. I don't have a clue would be too much or too little. The questions:

Any thoughts on how much almond extract might be appropriate for about 2 Liters of final product?
Am I worrying about a flavor that is so subtle I should just ignore it?
Has anyone made something similar and might have some direction?

Thanks,
Trevor

quote:

Originally posted by Trevor Wilson:
Am I worrying about a flavor that is so subtle I should just ignore it?

I would as almond extract is powerful stuff Man!!!

Cool! Not worrying about it is always the easy solution. Thanks for the opinion.

Many moons ago we had a couple of cherry trees in our yard. We used to have cherry picking parties. One guest suggested that we make some cherry bounce. You take a mason jar and fill it two thirds with cherries and then fill the rest of it with cubed sugar. You then pour the cheapest booze you can buy and cap it. Leave it alone until Thanksgiving and then enjoy. The cherries are great with ice cream. Once I used them in a baked alaska. Outstanding...tom

I'll "second" the Cherry Bounce suggestion.

It's gooooodddd stuff!

We take a big 2-gallon jug, stuff it with cherries (we leave the pits in & get 'em in Door County - the "thumb" of the glove for you non-Wisconsinites) Add about 1 cup of sugar per gallon and top-off with inexpensive brandy.

Let 'em sit until Christmas, then:

-Drink shots of the infused booze. It's sweet, smooth, and has a nice tart cherry taste!
-Roll the cherries around in powdered sugar with toothpicks. & eat a few. Adds a nice contrast to those plates of sweet cookies & candy.

Enjoy!

So this came out really good now that it's sat for almost 3 months! I went with the above recipe sans the extract. Let it all sit together for a few weeks then mashed up the cherries and let it sit another week. Then strained it all out and bottled it and it has been resting since. Was pretty harsh when first bottled, but it's smoothed out and has a deep rich cherry flavor since. Great on the rocks and deadly if mixed with a cola...

Superb!

If you go for this again you might try adding mahlab, the ground pit of sour cherries, maybe a tablespoon or two, and see what you think.

Glad your effort came out well. I'll definitely give this a shot.

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely give that a go next time!