I have a sweet surprise to share with you. One of my favorite summer fruits is cherries. We always buy both sweet and sour cherries when they are in season - to eat fresh, can, and freeze. We have made this a few times already in the past few weeks...it is so good over pound cake (my favorite combo was over coconut pound cake - oh yes), with ice cream, and would be great with a good pancake. This is an adult cherry reduction that is oh, so, good.
I started by pitting and slicing in half about 1 cup of sweet cherries. Put them in a canning jar, add about 1 Tbsp of honey or a raw sugar, and fill just to cover the cherries with dark rum. I added the seeds and pod of 1/3 a vanilla bean - you could also just add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. Let soak for a few hours.
Pour the mixture in a small saucepan, and turn heat to high. Bring it to a boil and keep it rolling for a minute or two. Turn down to medium (stir!), and let simmer for another 7-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it - it should be simmering, not boiling. This cooks off the alcohol a bit, softens the cherries, and reduces the liquid to a nice syrupy consistency.
Let cool a little and serve! There is a nice round aroma of the rum, but without any alcohol mouth burn. Such a rich cherry flavor - and not too sweet. Enjoy!
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