I have been admiring these lovely fresh cherries that I don’t readily get in India (and when I do, only at astronomical prices) and trying to think of a suitable recipe to showcase their sweetness. This easy homemade cherry compote was just asking to be made, and it is so versatile, I’m going to be using it everywhere. Drizzle it on a pancake, slather it onto bread for a sandwich, spread it on a fruit pizza, spoon it on to ice-cream, have it with yogurt – or just eat it straight from the bowl, the possibilities are many.
The cherries were moist, sweet and tasty and it was difficult to resist eating them just fresh instead of making the compote.
If you are using sour cherries to make the compote, you may want to increase the quantity of sugar or add honey or molasses.
You could make the easy homemade cherry compote with just 3 ingredients, cherries, sugar and water, or add other ingredients including some spice and herbs as I have done.
Almond extract could be substituted for vanilla, brown sugar for the white.
The cherries tasted delicious on their own, but boiling them in sugar enhanced their flavour. The cinnamon and rosemary added their mite to the aroma while the compote cooked.
I had promised my 5 year old granddaughter Tamma that I would be making a Cherry compote yogurt parfait, and when I did, she gave me a double thumbs up for the great taste! She has been very helpful and has even taken some pictures while I was making the compote, so that I could post them here!
Click here for the Link to the recipe for Cherry Compote Yogurt Parfait with Granola
The compote may be frozen and used later, I’m not sure for how long but it should be good for a month at least. If that is, you don’t use it up well before that time. I don’t expect mine to last more than a day or two!
Making the Easy Homemade Cherry Compote is fun and you get a feeling of satisfaction when its done as it tastes and looks so good and yet took very little effort to put together. In fact, the only ‘work’ involved was pitting the cherries before cooking them!
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Easy Homemade Cherry Compote
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh cherries washed, stalks removed, pitted and halved
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Orange zest
- 1/2 stick cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary minced
- 2 tablespoons Fresh orange juice
- 1 drop vanilla extract
Instructions
- Wash the cherries, remove the stalks, halve and pit them. Measure out all the ingredients except the vanilla extract. Mince the rosemary.
- Place the cherries in wide pan, with sides tall enough to hold the liquid when it bubbles and froths. Add a smidgeon of salt (less than a pinch), add sugar, orange zest, cinnamon, minced rosemary and the orange juice.
- Stir and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring so that the sugar dissolves. Keep on a simmer on low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sugar syrup heats to very high temperatures, so handle the pan with care. Drain
- Remove from the stove and drain the cherries into a clean bowl. Replace the pan with the syrup on the stove, and boil on low heat for about 10 minutes or till the syrup thickens, stirring frequently.
- Add a drop of vanilla extract, stir and add back the cherries. Boil for another 5 minutes and remove from the stove. Allow to cool and transfer to a container for storing till required to be used.
This looks delicious! Please send a few jars! 🙂
They did turn out very well! Thank you, Arun