This Historical Food Fortnightly challenge fit right in with the theme for this month’s recipes… PRESERVES!!!
With summer dying down and fall just around the corner, the abundance from the gardens, fields and forests is being gathered, and needs to be preserved for the depths of winter. So, this month, I’ll be making receipts or recipes that preserve the harvest.
This particular receipt I got from a very interesting book called “The Tennessee and Virginia Cookbook”. It was compiled in 1911 by the members of the First Presbyterian Church of Knoxville TN and the Central Presbyterian Church of Bristol, VA. The copy I have is a recent reprint sold mainly to help fund the repairs of the joint church that now makes up the congregation. But the great thing about this book is that it is a collection of early Appalachian recipes that offer a tiny window into that way of life. Over 1000 recipes are in this book from over 250 contributors. If you do happen to find it, get it!
But, on to the recipe. I chose this particular one because, at the time I made it, it was right in the middle of cherry season here in New England. And, being one of my favorite fruits to eat, there was no way I was letting this season go by without preserving a small part of it.
Conserved Cherries
“To conserve cherries, select fine, large red cherries; shore, drain and weigh. Take an equal weight of sugar, put the sugar over the fire in a preserving-kettle and add sufficient water to melt the sugar, boil and skim. Add the cherries; push the kettle on the back of the stove where they will cook slowly until they are transparent. Throw on a sieve to dry. After they are dry, roll in granulated sugar and keep between layers of waxed paper.”
Mrs. Will Bewley Drummer of Bristol, VA
The Tennessee and Virginia Cookbook (1911) pg. 103
So I selected come fine, large red cherries (and ate a few in the process) and proceeded to “shore”, drain and weigh them.
I have to be honest, I have no idea what they exactly mean by “shore” the cherries. But I figured that the cherries would not be able to dry that well if they still had a pit in them, so I figured it had to do with de-pitting them (if that’s a word). And, since I didn’t have a handy dandy cherry de-pitter (again, don’t know if that’s a word) I went for the next best technique, cut it in half and pull the pit out with your fingers. Works well, as long as you don’t mind deep red/purple stains on your fingers.
There you go! All de-pitted (???)! I can neither confirm or deny the fact that the cherries faced a few more casualties during this process, but the bowl was lighter than it was when I started.
After weighing the bowl of cherries (once the bowl was subtracted) the amount came to a little over a pound (1 lb, 3 oz). So I then weighed out the same amount in sugar (1 lb, 3 oz) and then figured out how much water it would take to “sufficiently melt the sugar”. I figured I’d do the typical 2:1 ratio of water to sugar, so I ended up using 4 1/2 cups of water.
See kids, this is where all those math skills come into play!
So I dissolved the sugar in the water…
… and added the cherries, brought it to a boil, and then brought the heat down to a simmer to cook until “transparent”.
Or, at least I tried to.
I kept a close watch on the cherries, skimming them when necessary, and making sure they still were holding their shape. They were to be dried and rolled in sugar, not made into jelly. And I had no idea how long exactly it would be till they were “transparent”.
So I stood by the stove the whole time, staring at the pot and singing “Hakuna Matata” with my son. And I let them simmer for an hour, till I lost my nerve and aborted the mission.
They weren’t transparent (though some of the smaller ones were beginning to be). But at least they would have their round shape.
I scooped each one out individually and laid them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I don’t have a flat sieve in which to dry them on, though I should invest in one. But, I used this same method when I was making candied orring pills (orange peels), so why wouldn’t it work now!
They are so shiny and beautiful! I am so excited to see how they turn out!
So I put a drying rack on top, allowing for air circulation, and covered it with a tea towel and placed it in an out of the way place on my counter. In a corner so I still had space to work, yet very visible so I wouldn’t forget to check them every day.
Day One: They were still fairly wet and sticky. I dabbed some of the excess liquid, switched out the parchment, and turned them over to start drying on the other side.
Day Two: Still wet but less sticky and starting to shrink a little bit. I turned them back over to dry evenly.
Day Three: Fairly similar to Day Two. Switched to a tray of fresh parchment again, flipping them over to keep drying them evenly.
Day Four: Looking at them on this day they were starting to look like prunes. Which is what I was going for, so that made me very happy. Flipped them over to continue the even drying process.
Day Five: By this point, as you can see above, the cherries have started to shrivel into themselves. They are still fairly sticky but not wet. Changed the parchment again and turned them… again.
Day Six: Very similar to Day Five. I was starting to wonder at this point whether to just coat them with sugar or give them one more day. I decided to wait one day more (now that I’ve got that song stuck in your head)!
Day Seven: The day I declare them READY!
At this point they look very much like prunes. But they certainly don’t taste like them.
I had to have a taste before coating them in sugar. You know, for experimental purposes. (I also made sure my husband tried one so that we could compare notes.) The interesting thing is that there is an initial sweetness that is the main flavor profile till the very end, when you finally taste the tart cherry flavor. If seemed to come around the last bite. It still tasted very good, but if you were looking for the cherry flavor you had to wait.
Then, onto the rolling in granulated sugar! Now, the recipe really doesn’t say how much sugar to use, so I started adding a tablespoonful at a time, mixing it, and gauging how much more to add. I found, with this amount of cherries, that I used 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar to coat them. In this case, a little goes a long way. It also shows the importance of having the cherries be a bit sticky so that the sugar will stick to them properly.
Then, I started to follow the instructions and stack them with pieces of parchment paper between them.
Then I abandoned that tactic when I realized they were not staying separate in my storage vessel. But got a pretty picture before I threw in the towel.
As for the taste?
The sugar really makes it that much better. But it still was fairly sweet with a subtle taste of cherry at the end. I would say it was a good step up from your everyday raisins or prunes (mainly because they are not covered in sugar).
And, I have to say, it was very well received. I happen to bring the container to a reenactment this past weekend and my fellow reenactors consumed the whole lot with great enthusiasm.
Which makes me also realize that this certainly is a preserve that you need to make with many more cherries than I did. One pound is certainly not enough!