Homemade Luxardo Maraschino Cherries
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Jul 24, 2015, Updated Jan 21, 2020
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Homemade Luxardo Maraschino Cherries are a great additonal to your at-home bar. They also make an amazing gift; all you need is a bottle of luxardo liqueur.
We’re gonna be psychos and make Christmas presents in July. Yes. This is happening. A good first step to getting in the mood for Christmas is open up your freezer and stick your head in it. It’ll rev up your wintery engines. Let’s make some Homemade Luxardo Maraschino Cherries!
Cherries are in full bloom right now. I was lucky enough to come across sour cherries and they are my absolute favorite. They require a bit of sugar to give them a nice balance, but not too much because I like to celebrate their tartness rather than just blast it out to oblivion.
I’m sure you’ve had cheap, bright pink maraschino cherries. Perhaps you had them when your mom ordered you a shirley temple and you loved them. I was the same way.
But they have no place in my adult cocktails nor my adult banana splits.
It’s time for us to grow up and make fancy-ass maraschino cherries. This step in the right direction starts with a bottle of Luxardo liqueur.
What Makes Maraschino Cherries Different?
Maraschino cherries are different from regular, fresh cherries because marashino cherries are preserved in a sweet syrupy liquid. They’re also usually made of lighter-colored varietal of cherries like Royal Ann and Rainier.
What are the Best Cherries to Use?
The best cherries are on the thinner-skinned and lighter-colored side, like Royal Ann or Rainier. I used beautiful cherries from the farmer’s market and I’m going to be honest, I completely forgot the name of them and it worked out great!
What is a Luxardo Cherry Made Of?
Are Maraschino Cherries Bad for You?
In a pot there is water, cinnamon sticks, a vanilla bean, some nutmeg and some sugar (not too much). That’s cooked down and steeped and then the luxardo and cherries are added.
And that’s sort of it. Add them to a series of jars and then can ‘em. I followed the directions given to me via The Weck Jar website.
I’m gonna be honest: I don’t love canning in Weck Jars. The tops are sort of stressful. You don’t know exactly when they’re completely sealed. I mean, you do it’s just much easier to tell with tops that have the little pop center.
But they do look cute, don’t they? I made my own labels by cutting out pieces of stock paper, brushing it red with a watercolor, spraying it with spray adhesive (my favorite adhesive) and then sticking them on. Never buy another label again! Super easy!
That’s it. The mail man and a few other people are getting these Homemade Luxardo Maraschino Cherries in December.
And of course, here are some other A Cozy Kitchen cocktails!
Luxardo Cherries Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/4 vanilla bean, scraped
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 pound regular cherries or sour cherries, stems removed and pitted
- 1 cup luxardo liqueur
Instructions
- To a medium saucepan (don’t turn the heat on yet), combine the sugar and vanilla bean caviar. Rub the vanilla bean with the sugar until it’s evenly distributed throughout—don’t be shy to use your hands! Turn the flame to medium, add the cinnamon stick, pinch of nutmeg, juice from 1 lemon and water. Bring the mixture to a simmer, cover, and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to low and add the cherries. Cook the cherries at a simmer for about 3 minutes, until they’re slightly softened. Remove from the heat and stir in the luxardo liqueur. Allow the mixture to cool completely.
- If you’re not canning, then feel free to fill up a few jars with the cherries and liquid. If you are canning them, then be sure to bring a large pot of water to a boil. Gently drop in the jars and boil for about 1 minute. I followed the rules off of Weck Jars’ website. Per their instruction, place on the tops, with the fastens and drop them into the boiling water. Bring the water back up to a boil and cook for at least 3 minutes. Carefully remove jars from the water and allow to cool completely. Remove the fastens.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looking for more cherry recipes? Here are some of my favorites:
I’m new to canning but I know that this isn’t a “tested” canning recipe. For those with more experience, do you feel comfortable with the acidity levels here? I canned 3 jars and two sealed properly, but getting our acid just from “1 lemon” doesn’t really guarantee we are below a pH of 4.7. I’m not trying to be negative but I also know canning is serious business! I want to make sure this is safe for gifts!
Hi – I don’t know if anyone answered you, but the idea that this is a shelf stable recipe is very questionable. First, always use bottled lemon juice because the acidity level is more consistent than that of a fresh lemon. I would at the very least double the lemon juice. There are paper Ph test strips that one can buy off of amazon (use for guidance). Also, would only leave 1/2” head space – 1 1/2” is not safe. There are several websites you can consult for safe canning practices and this website provides info : . https://ucanr.edu/sites/mfpoc/Resources_519
I used sour cherries from my backyard and unfortunately I think they were too ripe. 2 minutes of simmering turned them to mush… delicious though!!
Used store-bought sweet cherries and just added them to warm syrup and seemed to work.
Oh no! Yeah, I feel like sour cherries are super soft compared to regular cherries. But how lucky you are to have sour cherries in your backyard!
Working on these but the cherries keep giving up their liquid and diluting the syrup — syrup and cherries taste delicious but the cherries are now pretty shriveled. I plan to reduce the liquid and add it back, but has anyone else had this experience? I was hoping the cherries would plump up but they seem to be doing the opposite.
Can you leave these sit out on the cabinet like the jar of Luxardo cherries suggests or do they need to be refrigerated? Also, since you are making them in July for Christmas, do they need to sit and “brew” for that length of time or are they ready to use? Thank you!
If you properly canned them they do not need refrigeration unless opened.
Just made these cherries, they’re great! I am not canning, just jarring them and planning to make more cocktails! Nice spice on them.
YAY!
Thanks for the recipe! In the event it helps anyone: I doubled this recipe and used 2lbs of fresh cherries in six 8oz ball jars with an inch and a half of air space at the top of the jar. I kept the jars/lids/rings warm in one pot of water before filling them, and then brought a second large stock pot of water to a boil for the canning process (we boiled the filled 8oz jars for 10 minutes). We waited for the cherry mixture to cool to just-warm before filling the jars. All of the tops popped correctly. I will say that it’s important not to close the jars too tightly. Ball recommends that you close the tops “finger tight” which just means screwing the lids so they’re on snugly (so no liquid will come out) but not putting any serious muscle into it—the pressure really does the rest for you. We saved remaining cherry/luxardo liquid in the fridge for using in mixed drinks. Happy canning!
After canning is the liquid in the jar syrupy like regular maraschino cherries or saucy like lux maraschino cherries?
Am trying this recipe over the coming week. Having a good cherry season. Am considering partially dehydrating cherries then rehydrate in cooking liquid. Done that before with bourbon – gives cherries a little snap in the skin & bolder flavor.
I am going to hot water bath the cherries, how long do I leave them in the water bath? 10 min?
I’m trying Tart Montmorency Cherries and substituting Honey for the sugar in March…Using a little more water to compensate the for the dried cherries.
Now that it’s not cherry season… will frozen cherries work?
Eeesh. I kinda think they’ll be bland because of the added water in the frozen cherries. :/
Instead of water I use the accumulated cherry juice … very cherry and good!