Helen Witty

Cherry Liqueur

Preparation info
  • Makes about

    2½ cups

    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in
Better Than Store-Bought: Authoritative recipes that most people never knew they could make at home
Better Than Store-Bought

By Helen Witty and Elizabeth Schneider

Published 1979

  • About

A fruity cordial with the lovely hue of ruby port. The cherry flavor is rather soft-spoken, the kernel aroma a bit more intense. If you prefer a very mild bitter-almondy aroma, use only half the pits for the infusion.

If you can get sour cherries, use them and adjust the sweetening accordingly.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups pitted sweet cherries, pits reserved
  • 2 cups vodka
  • 1 cup

Method

  1. Combine the pitted cherries and vodka in a clean jar to just fit. Wrap the reserved pits in a towel and crush them with a meat pounder or a cleaver. Add them to the jar, cap it, and shake.
  2. Soak the cherries for about a week, shaking the jar a few times a day, or whenever convenient.
  3. Strain the liqueur through a coffee filter, pressing down hard to ext