Cherry Preserves and Liqueurs
The Cherry Festival was held on the last Sunday in June in a small town in Bistrita-Nasaud County, 45 km away from the country seat. This is a tradition for the 400 families in the area who tend to large cherry, sour cherry and walnut orchards. For many of them, cherries are the main source of income, with their produce getting sold on both domestic and foreign markets. At the festival, in exchange for a token fee, visitors can sample the entire range of varieties of cherries on display, in various shades of red.
Ștefan Baciu, 10.07.2016, 19:26
Today’s culinary theme is cherries. The most popularity is enjoyed by preserves and liqueurs. For cherry preserve you need equal quantities of pitted cherries and sugar. Place the pitted cherries in a the pot where you make the preserve, cover in the sugar, and leave them there in a cool place for two or three hours, time in which they leak out liquid. Squeeze in some lemon juice, and then set to simmer on the stove top. Stir gently from time to time, and increase the heat gradually, until the contents reach a boil. A foam will form on the surface, which you should skim. Boil gently until the contents thicken. Check the consistency by taking out a teaspoonful of the liquid, letting it cool down to see if it is the proper thickness. Pour the contents into jars, leaving about an inch of space at the top. Any kind of cherries can be used to make a delicious preserve.
A cherry liqueur is equally easy to make. The ratio of cherries to sugar is three to one. Take the jar in which you’ll make the liqueur and fill it in layers with cherries and sugar. Leave it aside for a few days, but don’t seal it, to avoid pressure building up. Once the sugar is completely dissolved in the liquid leaked out by the cherries, top with grain alcohol and leave it for about two weeks.
In addition to all this, you can also make a delicious, yet simple cake. You can use cherries, but also apricots. Take a kilogram of white flour, four eggs, 100 grams of butter, and a pound (half a kilogram) of cherries, as well as baking powder. Mix the butter with the sugar, then mix in, in this order, the eggs, the flour, and the baking powder. Knead until smooth. Take a baking tray, line it with baking paper, then pour in the mixture. Place the pitted cherries on top. Bake at medium heat in the oven for about half an hour, then sprinkle with confectionery sugar.
