A Sweet Post
Time for a sweet post in “orange” month. These cherries in orange liquor turned out to be a wonderful topping for a bowl of Blue Bell Vanilla Bean ice cream; which I ate for lunch! As I smacked my lips (I was home alone so as not to annoy any family members) with every bite of the creamy Blue Bell I chanted in my head, ” do NOT make a habit of this”. Ice cream for lunch was pretty much fun, especially with the touch of Triple Sec.
This is one of those “recipes” I came up with based on what I had on hand. I made it a few days ago but as I recall I didn’t have any fresh oranges, totally unsettling since it’s “orange” month at The Orange Bee! I’ve remedied this misfortune by filling a big bowl with oranges and clementines. What I did have was a bowl of left over sweet canned cherries. I don’t keep these as a staple but had used them in a salad that turned out to be like Waldorf salad, with cherries added.
I knew I needed to use them up and kept thinking they would be a delicious topping on ice cream Well, since it’s “orange” month I felt obliged to add orange in some way. Thinking, thinking, how to add orange and be successful. Simply zesting an orange didn’t seem fitting for my concoction and then I remembered the recently purchased bottle of Triple Sec. Bingo! I was also thinking of brandy as a nice addition to the cherries.
The day I made this cherry sauce it was cloudy and not a great photo day. Such is the existence of a blogger, or photographer for that matter. I know you bloggers out there know exactly what I’m talking about. The odds were against me, grey skies and food that melts. I managed to get my shots, before my ice cream melted and then sat down for lunch. I think this sauce would make a fantastic topping for chocolate ice cream as well. Love the flavor combo of chocolate and orange, but alas I only had vanilla. I’m certain it would be splendid spooned over pound cake, pudding or yogurt for a sweet treat.
I did jot down the amounts of ingredients to pass along to you. Jarred in cute, small containers Linda’s Cherry Sauce would make a lovely little gift for Valentines Day or next year at Christmas. “Orange” month continues, come back soon.
Enjoy!
Linda’s Cherry Sauce
1/2 cup sweet, pitted cherries, drained (save juice)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. brandy
2 tsp. Triple Sec
zest of one small orange
Drain cherries reserving juice. Sprinkle Triple Sec and brandy over cherries and allow to sit for about 20 minutes. Put cherries with liquors into a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add sugar and zest and stir until blended. Allow the mixture to simmer for about 10 minutes, adding in reserved juice as necessary. You can add back in as much juice as you like depending on how saucy you want the finished topping to be.
Let cool before spooning over ice cream. Store covered in refrigerator for 1 week.
Oh those cherries sound fantastic.
Yummy – of course the Blue Bell didn’t detract from their yumminess. Thank you!
My mother used a recipe similar to this one to make Cherries Jubilee. We loved it.
I thought it reminded me of Cherries Jubilee but I’ve never made that. Thanks for visiting.
Oh, those cherries – they’re my favourite fruit (do they still count as a fruit when they’re so teeny? I guess so… or a berry, I dunno). I like to put them between my teeth, spin them round to divide them in half, remove the pit and then line them all up and then cram them in my mouth 20 or so at a time (you don’t know happiness until you’ve eaten a huge handful of cherries all in one go!!!).
Love the look of the cherries here – so shiny and tasty looking 🙂