Polish sour cherry compote for winter: whole cherries with stones, ruby red, in litre jars
The most ruby compote in the Polish pantry: whole sour cherries with their stones covered in hot syrup and pasteurised for a quarter of an hour. The stones stay in, not out of laziness: they give an almond note, and unbroken fruit doesn't collapse or cloud the compote. Six litre jars from two kilos of cherries, drunk with dinner in winter instead of juice.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Cherries and jars 20 min
- Syrup 10 min
- Pasteurising 15 min
- Cooling 45 min
Step by step
0 / 6 donePick over and wash the cherries
Pick over the cherries, discard damaged and mouldy ones, pull off the stalks. Rinse in a colander under running water and drain. Don't remove the stones. Scald six litre jars and their lids with boiling water.
Ingredients: 2000 g sour cherries · 3500 ml water · 700 g sugar
TipThe stones stay for three reasons: they give a faint almond flavour, the whole fruit keeps its shape instead of collapsing in the syrup, and the compote stays clear. Stoning means lost juice and an hour of work.
Stalks off, stones in, rinsedFill the jars halfway
Pour the cherries into the jars, filling them to half their height. More fruit means a more intense compote but less to drink; half is the golden mean: full colour and flavour, fruit not crushed.
Halfway, looselyBoil the syrup
Bring the water and sugar to the boil in a large pot, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Six jars need about 3.5 litres of syrup. A 20 % syrup (200 g sugar per litre of water) gives a lightly sweet drinking compote; for very sour cherries you can use 250 g per litre.
TipSugar at this level doesn't preserve; the pasteurising does. Go down to 150 g per litre if you like it tart; you can sweeten in the glass.
Water and sugar, until dissolvedPour over boiling syrup
Pour the boiling syrup into the jars to 2 cm below the rim. Wipe the threads, screw the lids on tightly.
Boiling syrup 2 cm from the rimPasteurise
Stand the jars in a large pot on a folded cloth, add hot water to three-quarters of their height, bring to the boil and pasteurise 15 minutes from the boil over low heat. Lift out, stand upside down 10 minutes, turn upright and leave to cool.
TipCherries are acidic, so a quarter of an hour is enough. Longer pasteurising only overcooks the fruit and washes out the colour.
Fifteen minutes from the boilIn winter
Sealed jars keep a year in a cool pantry; the colour deepens every month. Keep any jars whose lids have not sealed in the fridge and open them first. Serve cold with dinner, eat the fruit with a spoon or add it to cakes and crepes. Mind the stones with children. An opened jar keeps 4 days in the fridge.
Compote in the glass, cherries by the spoon
Before you start
With sweet cherries
The same method for sweet cherries, but 150 g sugar per litre of water: they are sweeter. Sweet cherries are less acidic, so add a tablespoon of lemon juice to every litre of syrup. Add a handful of sour cherries for colour.
With cloves and cinnamon
Two cloves and a piece of cinnamon stick in each jar: a Christmas compote, served gently warmed.
The cherries floated up
Normal: fruit is lighter than syrup. After a few weeks they soak through and sink. What matters is that the syrup covers them when the lid goes on.