Cherries

The first cherries

This year once again I missed the deep, purple cherries that Walter loves. But that is because there weren’t many and what there were the birds got or the wind and heavy rain knocked off before they were fully ripe. These are really early, the first taste of summer, and are always finished before graduation in early May (which is why I miss them). Based on this article, I believe they may be Burlat cherries, which, interestingly are self-fertilizing. In general that’s a good thing unless seasonal extremes in weather block the process, which may be what happened this year. The tree that they grow on dominates our old orchard with its slightly gnarly gray trunk and wide canopy. I have never seen it in flower either, but I’ve seen pictures and look forward to seeing and maybe tasting next year.

Wild Black Cherries

Meanwhile, I did get back in time for the tiny, purple black, wild black cherries in the new orchard. The skins are thick and the fruit is small — it took me an hour to remove the pits from three cups of them today (and they are so juicy I made quite a mess). In the picture to the left the black ones in the background are ripe and ready to pick. And pick we did. We ate a lot as well, filling our mouths with the sticky, sugary taste that is almost cough drops but not quite. A little more depth, and a more tart (although that might be only the skins, which are full of pectin). I can’t find a French name for these, but they sound and look a lot like the wild black cherries blogger Ashley Adamant describes in Eastern USA in her foraging blog practicalselfreliance.com. Either way, I agree with her that these small cherries are worth the effort!

I made a small batch of jam from these and added the rest to a clafoutis (recipe below). I have to say that the jam is one of my favorites so far. I made a simple no pectin small batch wild cherry jam with vanilla and it is exactly the right amount of tart, sweet, and cherry. I have never made cherry jam and I am not sure I have ever even had it, but in addition to slathering it on fresh baguette with sweet butter — as I did this morning — I can imagine it with slice of brebi, or with cream on a scone, or spooned over ice cream (vegan or otherwise). Layered onto a mini-puff pastry base and served with custard would be good, too. While a taste is still in my mouth I can’t help thinking of ways to serve it! The jam recipe, such as it is, is below. I pitted the cherries then gave them a quick whiz with the immersion blender to make chunks. In her recipe for small batch cherry jam, Alyssa, the food blogger at floralapron.com, recommends cooking first and then blending, which I might try for variety. Either way, chopping or blending the skins makes more pectin available to help it set. I like the addition of vanilla essence (nothing fancy, although maybe I will try vanilla beans or paste at some point).

Are these Napoleon cherries? Edit: No they are not!

The other excitement on my return was *my* favorite cherries in the orchard. A lovely half yellow and half blush, mid-sweet heart-shaped cherry. This cherry is interesting in that the fruit ripens all at once, but because of the yellow it fools the birds (and some people) into thinking it is not ripe! Humans get a day or two before the birds and insects catch on, and I made that window this year. Oh my they are good. They are really juicy, so picking and eating are interspersed by finger-licking! This year we had a bumper crop and we filled my fruit basket from where we stood without stretching. Even after leaving half a basket for Andrée and friends and making the clafoutis, I still have a lot left. But we basically only have today and tomorrow to get whatever else we can pick before the birds find them. They don’t keep long once picked, so I think I maybe making more jam this evening after my writing session (so happy to get back to writing with long-time collaborator Rebecca Moore Howard).

Based on this description, kindly sent to me by my BIL and guest blogger Alex, I initially thought these could be Napoleon cherries; however, at the market on Saturday the fruit guy had a tray of these labeled “Rainer Cherries, France.” Clearly the same thing. A bit of research reveals a Washington State cherry, named for the Mt. Rainier of course. The internet tells me that indeed these are grown on SW France. Also that these have a pale yellow fruit in contrast to the white fruit of Napoleon. And ours are indeed pale yellow. So, Rainer Cherries they are. And they are so prolific that we picked a second basket this same size. Some serious jam making must happen soon (see June 12, 2026).

I’m thinking these would make nice little individual pies, but I can use a chunky jam for that whenever I have time. Like the maybe-Burlats and the wild cherry, we only have one tree that bears these cherries, and it is quite mature so a lot is left at the top far out of our reach. I think our next big purchase may need to be an orchard ladder. While I like to feed our feathered neighbors we also acquired two barrels to collect excess fruit and take it to be turned into eau de vie!

Recipes

Small batch wild black cherry jam

Ingredients (double for a larger small batch — this is one 8oz jar)

• 1 1/4 cups (200 g) of cherries
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1 TBS (15 ml) lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp (3-5 ml) vanilla extract

Method

• Pit the cherries and cut in half if larger varieties, leave wild cherries whole;
• Chop coarsely or give a few whizzes with an immersion blender;
• Add to a saucepan with the sugar and lemon;
• Heat on medium until the sugar dissolves (about 3-5 minutes), stirring occasionally;
• Bring to a rolling boil (stirring won’t make it go down), and cook 5-10 mins until it passes the saucer test
  • chill a saucer in the freezer, add a few drops of jam, wait 15 seconds, then tip the saucer vertically; when it doesn’t run it is done (for those being technical, this should be 105ºC (220ºF). After 5 minutes, test every minute.
• Pour into sterilized and heated jars, seal and put in the fridge to set overnight.

With a batch this small you should not need to do the whole preserving bath thing, but if you plan to keep this more than a few weeks (I doubt that you can) or give as a gift, check out the water bath canning page on Ashley’s Creative Canning blog for advice and USDA guidelines on how to preserve jams and jellys and then follow them so everyone stays healthy!

Clafoutis with two kinds of cherry (or only one)

Adapted from Géraldine Leverd’s blog lacuisinedegeraldine.fr

Ingredients

• 4 cups (600 g) of cherries (I used half & half Wild Black and Napoleon, you do you!)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar + 1 TBS to dust the buttered dish
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup (30g) cornstarch
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (gluten free works)
• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) whole milk (lactose free works)
• 1 -2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract

Tools

• Cherry pitter (you really do need one of these)
• 9” baking dish/pie plate
• Large mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Spatula

Method

• Pit the cherries and cut in half or leave whole (I halved the Napoleons and left the wild cherries whole);
• Heat the oven to 175ºC (350ºF)
• Butter a 9” baking dish/pie plate and dust it with 1TBS granulated sugar;
• Whisk the eggs, sugar, and salt thoroughly,
• Stir in the flour and cornstarch until there are no lumps;
• Add vanilla and lemon zest and whisk in the milk slowly;
• When you have a smooth batter pour into the dish and put into the oven for 10 minutes (TIP: Really just 10 minutes. If you leave it longer the crust will be too thick, you just want it to start to set so the cherries don’t all sink to the bottom!)
• Add the cherries onto the top of the batter (feel free to be creative or just scatter randomly);
• Bake for another 25-30 minutes. Remove when the middle is still a bit creamy;
• Dust with sugar if you like and then let it cool a bit if you can.
  • Best lukewarm, and while amazing on its own this is also good with a dollop of cream (if you’re in Europe, the thick coconut cream is a good substitute), ice-cream, or cherry of lemon sorbet

A room temperature slice of this goes nicely with morning coffee or afternoon tea for Fika (or just for you if nobody stops by while you still have any to share).