Summer

Sweet and Sour Cherry Duet

by:
June 22, 2010
4.3
3 Ratings
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

This evolved when I was making many variations on my Hungarian grandmother's chilled cherry soup. I had so much left over that I froze it. It makes a delightful frozen dessert especially when served with my warm cherry bay sauce (you can see photos of my other entries). The first part can be be used as a chilled summer sweet soup recipe if not frozen, and the second part can be used as a very versatile sauce. I like using the sauce on the thin side, but you can use more arrowroot to thicken this if you prefer. —Sagegreen

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Ingredients
  • Frozen Delight
  • 1 pound fresh pitted sweet red cherries
  • 2 large white peaches, peeled
  • 1/2 creme fraiche
  • 1/2 half and half
  • 1/2 dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup cane sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon zest of orange
  • sprig of mint for garnish when serving
  • Spicy Sauce
  • 1/2 pound Montmorency red cherries (or Rainier if you can't get sour cherries)
  • 1 cup red wine (pinot noir or malbec works well)
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
  • 2 juniper berries
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon basalmic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup cane sugar
  • 1 teaspoon zest of lemon
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch
Directions
  1. Frozen Delight
  2. Add all the ingredients to a blender and process.
  3. Freeze in an ice cube tray. Consider using ice cube molds in shapes of your choice as well.
  1. Spicy Sauce
  2. Bring the first 9 ingredients to a simmer in a sauce pan.
  3. Add the arrowroot or cornstarch to thicken. Let this cool, but use while still warm.
  4. Take out the frozen cubes or molds from the first part of this recipe and let them sit out for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften, arranged in individual serving dishes.
  5. Ladle the warm cherry sauce over each serving and garnish with a mint sprig (or a chiffonade of mint leaves).

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2 Reviews

susan G. August 7, 2011
I have sour cherries that needed processing fast, and I just eaked out the last of my Eden sour cherry butter... so your sauce looked like something to adjust to refill the jar. I used 1/4 cup sweet vermouth for the wine, no zest or thickener, and grains of paradise in lieu of juniper berries. Let it simmer until quite reduced, ended up with about 6 oz. of tasty stuff.
Soup's next! Thanks for the inspirations, Sagegreen.
Sagegreen August 7, 2011
Love your adaptations. So glad you let me know how this inspired you! Thanks, susan g!