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Pickled Cherries
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Pickled Cherries

Pickled Cherries are a tasty treat right out of the jar, but they're also delicious in cocktails, served with roast meat, or on top of ice cream for dessert!
Author: Ashley Adamant

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups 625 ml white vinegar (at least 5% acidity)
  • 2 ¾ lbs 1.25 kg fresh sweet cherries, washed, pitted, and stemmed
  • 7 3-inch/7.5-cm cinnamon sticks
  • 1 split vanilla bean
  • 2 cups 500 ml sugar
  • 2 Tbsp 30 ml pickling salt
  • 7 whole cloves
  • 7 star anise

Instructions

  • Prepare the cherries by washing, pitting, and stemming them. You can use a cherry pitter or a large paper clip to pit cherries while leaving them whole. Once you've cleaned all the cherries, set them aside.
  • Next, you need to prepare the pickling solution. Stir together vinegar, sugar, and pickling salt in a stainless steel saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the seeds and bean to the vinegar mixture. Bring it to a boil, stirring until the salt and sugar dissolve.
  • Now, it's time to pack the cherries into the jars. Put the cinnamon stick, star anise, and clove in a hot jar. 
  • Pack the cherries tightly into the jar, leaving ½ inch (1 cm) headspace. It will take about 12 cherries to fill a jar. 
  • Remove the vanilla bean from the pan, throw it out, and ladle the hot pickling liquid over the cherries, leaving half an inch of headspace.
  • Make sure that there are no air bubbles.
  • Wipe the jar rims, center the lids on the jars, and apply the bands, tightening them to fingertip tight.
  • Place the jars into the boiling water canner.
  • Process the jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. 
  • Turn off the heat, remove the lid, and let the jars stand for five minutes. 
  • Remove the jars and let them cool at room temperature for 24 hours. 

Notes

Altitude Adjustments

Water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, so jars need to be processed a bit longer as you go up in elevation.  Here are the altitude adjustments for canning pickled cherries:
  • For 0 to 1,000 Feet in Elevation - Process pint jars for 10 minutes, and quart jars for 15 minutes.
  • For 1,001 to 6,000 Feet in Elevation - Process pint jars for 15 minutes, and quart jars for 20 minutes.
  • Above 6,001 Feet in Elevation - Process pint jars for 20 minutes, and quart jars for 25 minutes.