DIY Maraschino Cherries Are Summer’s Hottest Accessory

By Jesse Szewczyk

To garnish a dessert with a maraschino cherry is to finish it off with a wink. There's just something about the glossy syrup-soaked fruit that screams fun, instantly transforming the sleepiest desserts into something cheeky. Sure, there's a time and place for the ultra-specific flavors of premium Luxardo cherries and the aggressively neon red varieties, but sometimes you want something that actually tastes like cherry. Making your own is the answer to creating something that's not only fun but actually delicious, and it's as easy as simmering and soaking. If there's only one DIY project you tackle this summer, let it be maraschino cherries.

Unlike store-bought maraschino cherries, which can at times skew cloyingly sweet and unnaturally bright in color, homemade candied cherries tone down the sugar and omit the food dye so the flavor of the fruit shines. Instead of bleaching the cherries just to dye them again (a process commonly used in commercial production), these homemade cherries honor the stone fruit and enhance their flavor instead of covering it up. Cherries get soaked in simple syrup and left to soften; that's it. There are no needless steps that hide or mute the cherries’ flavor. You’ll want to add them (and the ruby red juice that the process yields) to cocktails and desserts, or snack on them all by themselves because they are that good.

To make your own, you’ll bring sugar, water, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and almond extract to a simmer. The teaspoon of almond extract gives the cherries their signature maraschino taste. Once the mixture has reached a simmer, you pour it over pitted cherries and leave it to cool. After a quick overnight rest in the fridge, these cherries are ready to eat. (That's a lot faster than the booze-preserved versions you'll find in recipes across the internet that often require days of soaking. Plus, you can serve these to folks who don't drink alcohol.)

Another bonus of making your own candied cherries is that you can decide exactly what type of cherries you want to use—a far cry from the mystery cherries used in store-bought varieties that carry little resemblance to their natural selves. Any variety of dark, sweet cherries such as Bing or Chelan work well and will result in deeply hued cherries with a bright red syrup. If you’re lucky enough to find fresh varieties, just make sure to remove their pits before candying them; although frozen cherries work just as well. If you want to use tart cherries such as Morello or Montmorency, just know that these brighter colored varieties end up slightly less saturated color-wise once candied compared to their less-tart counterparts.

While the candied cherries can be used in a plethora of delicious ways, the real MVP here is the syrup they are candied in. The concentrated syrup is as valuable as the cherries themselves, infused with the stone fruit's distinctive flavor bolstered with almond extract, vanilla, and a touch of lemon. It's delicious spooned over vanilla ice cream, drizzled over Greek yogurt, added to summer marinades for a pop of fruitiness, or stirred into cocktails for a tart-sweet flavor. Combined with seltzer, it becomes an instant fruity soda. And it's an invaluable ingredient in these Cherry Lime Rickey Floats, lending the drinks their vibrant crimson color and bold cherry flavor.

Many DIY projects skew high on effort and low on reward, but these maraschino-style cherries are not that. Instead of being a garnish for the sole sake of beauty, they are an addition you’ll actually want to eat. Would a banana split really be a banana split without the crowning cherry on top?