Brandied Cherry Sauce

Made with tart cherries, this beautifully brilliant red cherry sauce is laced with brandy for an easy, elegant dessert. Simply warm the sauce and serve over ice cream with a sprig of mint and your guests will be enamored. (If you only have sweet cherries available, it can be made with sweet cherries instead.)

I haven’t had time to blog this beautiful recipe … I chanced upon the cherries a couple months ago, an unexpected gift from my friend’s mom’s cherry tree. I brought them home and worked diligently to get all the little red beauties pitted. I froze a couple bags of them, made up a lovely cherry pie, and then I asked myself what could I do to preserve the lovely flavor of these pretty red cherries?

My Cherry Vanilla Rum sauce came to mind … would that work with tart cherries? … aaaannnnd brandy? Brandy is so nice for cooking … I decided to give it a try and I was so insanely happy with the results! Yes, brandied cherry sauce made with sour cherries is every bit as good as the sauce I made with sweeter cherries ages ago, and I think yes, even better. The sour cherries are a brighter, more brilliant red, and the sour from the cherries gives the sauce an extra dimension of flavor. While the sauce is sweet, it is also sour, and then there’s the brandy and the vanilla … and a hint of maple.

I freaking love spooning this sauce over vanilla yogurt (especially vanilla Noosa yogurt!) for breakfast in the morning … or warm the sauce and drizzle it over vanilla ice cream for an elegant dessert. I brought some of this lovely cherry sauce to my friend who gave me the cherries and she had to try it over the chocolate cake we happened to have on hand … and then again with ice cream. I wasn’t going to combine it with the cake (because the cake was already perfect!), but well, she insisted, so I tried it and I have to admit, it was ah-mazing with the cake. But really, you need not bother with cake. Just spoon it over ice cream for a lovely dessert.

… and if you’ll excuse me now, I think I hear my ice cream (and cherry sauce) calling me! …

Note: because of the tartness of the cherries, this sauce is a little sour, not terribly sweet, so if you want a sweeter sauce, add some brown sugar. As it is, because it is a little sour and bursting with fresh cherry flavor, it would also be delicious served over a pork tenderloin or chicken.

Brandied Cherry Sauce

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: About 1 1/2 pints of cherry sauce 1x

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Ingredients

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• 1 1/2 – 2 lbs. fresh tart cherries, pitted
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• To finish: 2 Tablespoons brandy

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Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, add the cherries, maple syrup, 1/4 cup brandy, and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until the cherries are very soft.
2. Get some of the juices (2 – 4 Tablespoons-ful) from the pot into a cup. Stir the cornstarch into this liquid until smooth. Add the cornstarch mixture, a spoonful at a time, to the cooking cherries, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened. Stop when it is thickened to your liking.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the additional brandy. Store in an airtight jar or container in the fridge. Warm and serve over cakes, yogurt, ice cream, etc.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2017, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

This recipe was shared at Foodie Friends Friday.