Cocktail Cherries

Why This Recipe Works

The garishly red artificially colored and artificially flavored cherries that garnish everything from ice cream sundaes to baked hams and cocktails are a far cry from the original maraschino cherries. The originals date back to at least the 19th century, when sour Marasca cherries from the Dalmatian Coast of present-day Croatia were preserved in Maraschino liqueur, an Italian spirit made from the pits and flesh of the same fruit. This tradition has been preserved (without the alcohol) most famously in Luxardo's Original Maraschino Cherries—rich sour cherries bathed in a velvety syrup. But this luxury item costs more than $20 for 14 ounces, so we decided to make our own version. We tested our way through fresh, frozen, jarred, and canned sweet and sour cherries; we preserved them in syrups made variously with white, brown, Demerara, muscovado, and even caramelized sugar. We hit our sweet (and delicately sour) spot when we soaked jarred sour Morello cherries (similar to but more readily available than Marascas) in a syrup made from unsweetened cherry juice and sugar.