Hooray for Cherry Day of Harvest Month! We’re skipping around Messidor a bit, but it’s just so chock-full of edible foods. On this day, 19 Messidor, I have made candied cherries which I then used in an almond ice cream. I was hoping to replicate Amarena Fabbri cherries and I think if I had a darker, more bitter cherry it would have been a closer match. However! the candied cherries still turned out great thanks to a recipe from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop. When we were in Paris, we found a large jug of Amarena cherries for sale for something like… 9€. A steal compared to the price of a small jar here. I didn’t even think of the cherries as a liquid, so we packed it in our overhead bag for the plane only to have the Charles De Gaulle x-ray operator remove them for violating the 3 ounce rule. I hope she enjoyed many cherry sundaes!

Candied Cherries 

1 lb of fresh cherries, pitted and de-stemmed

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 tbs lemon juice

1 drop almond extract

Place the cherries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a pan that can easily fit everything and heat to a boil. Once they’ve reached a boil, reduce to a low boil and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the liquid starts to thicken. Remove from heat and add a drop of almond extract. Let them cool.

Cherry Almond Ice Cream 

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole almonds, chopped

5 large egg yolks

1 cup of drained candied cherries

Warm the milk, sugar, salt and 1 cup of cream in a heavy pan. When it starts to simmer, remove from heat and add in 1 cup of the chopped almonds. Cover and let the mixture steep for an hour.

Once steeped, strain the mixture over a colander or strainer to remove the almonds. Discard the almonds and re-heat the mixture. Separate the eggs and whisk the yolks in a bowl. Temper the yolks with some of the warmed milk mixture, then add the yolks to the pan and cook. Cook over medium, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens slightly. Pour the thickened mixture over a strainer into a bowl and add the remaining cup of cream. Let cool overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, freeze in an ice cream maker and when ready, scoop out into your container and sprinkle in the chopped candied cherries and reserved almonds. Freeze and enjoy!