liquor Archives | Marisa's Italian Kitchen

Homemade Brandied Cherries are far easier to make than one would think and requires only two ingredients in the making.

At the very start of cherry season and after first gorging on these sweet crunchy cherries till our tummies protest, we love preserving this wonderful fruit for the upcoming months.

Aside from canning, freezing or even dehydrating fruits, did you know that you can also preserve them in pure alcohol?

It’s a brilliant way of capturing the essence and flavour of this sweet fruit. One that stretches way beyond the summer season while rewarding us with its blissful tastes.

What I know about homemade brandied cherries I owe to my father-in-law who would happily gift us jars of preserved cherries for the holidays!

We would often serve and savour them after an elaborate, Italian style dinner surrounded by family or good friends.

They’re surprisingly crunchy to the bite with a drunken boozy taste and a pure delight!

My father-in-law had a golden rule to crunchy boozy cherries: Choose firm dark sweet cherries with no visible cracks in them and clip the stem while leaving a quarter of it intact.

By doing so the cherries retain their firmness while soaking up the delicate brandy!

What you’ll need for preserving cherries

Much as the title implies, all you’ll need are some sweet cherries and a good Brandy.

But it doesn’t have to be the most expensive Brandy here! As long as it has a lovely delicate flavour then it will do just perfectly.

You’ll want to keep this in mind because we definitely get what we pay for. And besides, you’ll most certainly be drinking the cherry brandy once it’s infused with the dark crimson hue of the cherries of course.

How to make Brandied Cherries Recipe

Choose firm dark red sweet cherries with no visible cracks or blemishes (cracked and bruised cherries will spoil the batch)
Rinse the cherries and lay them out on a clean dishcloth
Pat them down to dry with a dishcloth
Clip the cherry stems while leaving a quarter of the stem intact
Fill jars with cherries
Pour the brandy over the cherries, taking care to fully submerge the cherries in the alcohol
Place the lids on the jars and refrigerate for at least 4 weeks before consuming

What to do with Brandied Cherries

Use the brandied cherries to garnish cocktails
Top over your favourite desserts such as ice cream, puddings or serve alongside a pound cake
Or simply serve as an after dinner drink in a liquor glass with a couple of the boozy cherries

Cheers!

Another preserving recipe you might enjoy throughout the winter season:

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

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Homemade Brandied Cherries

A quick and easy Homemade Brandied Cherries recipe. This is a wonderful way of preserving cherries while flavouring an after-dinner digestif.

Prep Time30 mins

Course: Cocktail

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Homemade Brandied Cherries

Servings: jars of brandied cherries

Equipment

4, 500ml Canning Jars or any size jars of your choice.

Ingredients

1 750ml bottle of Brandy
1 1/2 - 2 pounds Bing Cherries approximately

Instructions

Rinse cherries under cold running water and lay out in a single layer on a clean dish cloth.
Pat the cherries dry.
Using a scissor, clip the stem of the cherry while leaving approximately a quarter of the stem intact. (leaving the stem intact ensures a firm and crunchy cherry)
Fill the jars with the cherries while leaving some head space in the jars.
Pour the brandy over the cherries, making sure the cherries are completely submerged.
Put the lids on the jars and refrigerate for 4 weeks before consuming. (If you can resist that long)
This allows for the cherries to be infused with brandy flavour while the brandy intensifies with the crimson red hue of the cherries.
Serve as an after dinner digestif

Notes

Although I mention to refrigerate the brandied cherries for 4 weeks before consuming you can really start tasting them after two weeks.

The longer steeping time infuses the cherry with more of the brandy which in turn deepens the red hue of the liquor.

The alcohol acts as a preserving agent as the cherries steep, however make sure that the cherries are always submerged in the alcohol so that they don't spoil.

Cheers!

Delightfully tender and crumbly, these Amaretto Biscotti are chock full of roasted almonds, chocolate coated almonds and drizzled with more chocolate.

This Amaretto Biscotti post was originally published January 12, 2015 and republished March 1, 2019 with updated photos and content.

I have a love affair with biscotti! My guilty pleasure! Well…one of them, I may have a few more.

This Italian, twice baked cookie is very popular in coffee shops.

Why buy them though, when you can just as easily make your own! They’ll be far more superior to the store bought ones.

I always feature at least one flavour on my sweet table or cookie platter during the holidays. But then again, I really don’t need much of an excuse to bake them any time of the year.

Nowadays I much prefer one flavour of biscotti or another rather then a chocolate chip cookie.

They’re really not complicated to make at all and perfect for beginners.

You can slice and bake them into long and elegant shapes or shape, slice and bake them into mini morsels as I have done with this recipe.

Unlike some rock hard biscotti which require dunking in milk, coffee or even wine, these are made with butter and have a more tender bite but still remain crunchy.

They’re simply wonderful all on their own.

However, a light drizzle of both the dark and white chocolate adds an extravagant touch of elegance.

Brew a fresh cup of coffee and enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures.

TIPS FOR PERFECT AMARETTO BISCOTTI

First off, I prefer to roughly chop the both the almonds and the chocolate covered almonds. This allows far easier slicing with cleaner cuts.

After the initial first bake do allow the biscotti logs to cool for about 10 minutes for easy slicing. This makes the biscotti more pliable to a sharp knife.

Make sure you’re on a steady cutting board. With the tip of the knife pointed downwards, slice at a diagonal in one fluid motion.

I prefer to stand the biscotti slices upright for the second bake. This allows them to crisp on both sides without having to turn them over and risking breakage.

Allow the biscotti to cool completely before drizzling them with the melted chocolate. This helps the chocolate set much quicker. However, you can just as easily place the chocolate drizzled biscotti tray in the fridge if pressed for time.

They’re at their best stored in an air tight container for about one week and freeze well.

If you make this recipe remember to tag @marisasitaliankitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation!

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Amaretto Biscotti

Delightfully tender and crumbly, these Amaretto Biscotti are chock full of roasted almonds, chocolate coated almonds and drizzled with more chocolate.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Amaretto Biscotti

Servings: mini biscotti

Ingredients

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup roasted almonds roughly chopped
1 cup chocolate covered almonds roughly chopped
1/4 cup white chocolate chopped
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lina a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on medium high speed with an electric mixer until fluffy and light in colour. For about 2 minutes or so.
Beat in the eggs, amaretto liqueur, almond and vanilla extracts until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, add in the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated.
Stir in both the roasted almonds and the chocolate covered almonds.
On a lightly floured surface divide the biscotti dough in four equal portions.
With lightly dusted hands, roll each portion into a 12 inch log and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes. The logs will be a light golden colour with firm tops.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees.
Once cooled, slice each log crosswise into 3/4 inch pieces.
Place upright on the baking sheet and return to the oven for the second bake.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Allow the cookies to cool before drizzling with the melted chocolate.
Place both chocolates into 2 small separate bowls and melt in the microwave at 20 second intervals.
If your chocolate is too thick for drizzling, simply stir in a little vegetable oil to thin it out to a drizzling consistency.
Using a small spoon drizzle first the dark chocolate over the sliced biscotti and then the white chocolate.
Let the chocolate set before serving.
I leave the biscotti on the cookie sheet at room temperature to set.
However if your pressed for time you can place the cookie sheet with the biscotti in the fridge to set much quicker.

Notes

Adapted from The food Network Magazine.