Tart Cherries

Tart cherries are rich in powerful compounds called flavonoids. These are colorful nutrients found in many fruits and vegetables and are attracting growing attention for their antioxidant properties.

A special class of flavonoids, called anthocyanins, provide these special cherries with their characteristic flavor, deep color, and diverse health benefits.

Anthocyanins also confer dark pigmentation and strong antioxidant properties to blueberries, raspberries, and bilberries.

But tart varieties offer novel anthocyanins not found in these other deeply colored fruits, as well as being a rich source of antioxidants including quercetin, genistein, naringenin, and chlorogenic acid.

What You Need to Know

As with other fruits, appropriate handling techniques should be used when working with cherries. Add the cherries near the end of the preparation process of your recipe, if possible, to preserve texture and shape.

Put fresh ones in a plastic bag and refrigerate immediately. Eat them within 3 days. Canned oness will keep for one year unopened in a cool, dark cupboard.

After opening the can, transfer the cherries to a covered glass, plastic or ceramic container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

If using fresh cherries in pies or other baked dishes, pit the fruit with a cherry pitter or small, sharp knife. Operating like a hole punch, a cherry pitter makes fast work of an otherwise tedious task.

Simply place a stemmed cherry in the pitter and then squeeze the handle. The tool pokes out the pit while leaving the fruit whole.

If the recipe calls for canned sour cherries and you wish to use fresh sweet cherries, reduce the amount of sugar and add a little lemon juice to taste.

This works very well for cherry pie, cherry sauce for ice cream or cherry topping for cheesecake.

Simple Tasty Recipes

1. Cherry Crisp

Mix the following together and let stand for 10-15 minutes:

--3 1/2 cups pitted tart cherries
--1/4 cups cherry juice
--1 Tbsp. cornstarch
--2 Tbsp. tapioca
--1/2 cup sugar

With a pastry blender, mix the following:

--1 cup quick rolled oats
--1/3 cup butter/margarine
--1/2 cup brown sugar
--1/2 cup flour

Place cherry mixture in the bottom of a greased 8" x 8" baking pan. Spread rolled oat mixture over the cherries. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until cherries are really bubbling.

2. Tart Cherry Jam

--2 lbs., 5 oz. pitted cut up tart cherries
--1 box sure jell fruit pectin
--2 oz. sugar

Using an eight quart preserving kettle, mix the cherries and the pectin. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring well.

Remove from heat & quickly stir in sugar. Return to heat & bring to a hard boil and boil for one minute.

Remove from heat and pour into sterilized jars, following proper canning procedures. Process for 5 minutes in water bath, remove jars and let cool.

3. Tart Cherry Sauce

--1/4 cup sugar
--1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
--2 cups pitted cherries
--2 tbsp. margarine

Mix sugar and cornstarch. Stir in pitted cherries. Cook over medium heat until thickened.

Remove from heat & add margarine. Stir well. Serve over ice cream, cake or cheese cake. Keep refrigerated.

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