Five Spice Cherry Canning Recipe
Cherry season is one of my favorite times to find new ways to use the harvest, and this five spice cherry canning recipe caught my attention after I'd already made two cherry pies. I still had pie cherries to use, but I wanted something different that I could enjoy another day. I love unusual preserves because a single ingredient can become something entirely new when you add the right combination of spices. These cherries gave me another way to work with the harvest instead of making the same dessert over and over.
If you've ever found yourself surrounded by ripe fruit that needs attention, you know how quickly the work can add up. Having a plan for what you want to preserve makes the kitchen feel more manageable, and a spiced cherry preparation can give you possibilities beyond an ordinary pie filling. The original recipe and my video about preparing jars remain below, along with the story of how I came across this particular combination.
In This Article
Choosing and Preparing Cherries for the Recipe
Begin with sound, ripe cherries, whether they came from your own trees, a local grower or a seasonal market purchase. Wash and sort the fruit, remove damaged pieces, and prepare the cherries as the recipe calls for. Pitting can be the most time-consuming part of a larger batch, so it helps to have the right tools ready and a bowl for the pits. Sweet and tart cherries have different flavor profiles, which will influence how the spices come through in the finished dish.
Five-spice seasoning is fragrant and distinctive, and different blends don't always have identical proportions. That makes this a recipe worth trying in the original form before improvising. Use the exact fruit quantities and other measurements shown in the existing Tasty Recipe Card. For shelf-stable canning, rely on a currently tested recipe and its specified process rather than assuming an old or modified preserve formula is validated just because it sets or seals. If you're making a separate small batch to eat promptly, you have more room to explore flavor preferences.
Ways to Enjoy Five Spice Cherries
Spiced cherries can be interesting beyond toast or a simple dessert bowl. Try them with ice cream, on a plain cake, or alongside a baked fruit dessert when you want a warm spice note without making a complicated topping from scratch. A modest amount can add character to a familiar dish. My cherry pie from scratch and five spice cherry ice cream are two more ways to use this fruit and build a meal around what you put away.
Getting More from the Cherry Harvest
One thing I appreciate about home food preservation is having different options for the same harvest. Cherries can be frozen for baking, dried for snacks, or prepared in tested preserves and sauces. The best approach depends on how you intend to use them later. If you mostly bake, a freezer bag of measured pitted cherries may be more practical than another jar of a specialty spread. If you enjoy opening something ready to spoon over dessert, a well-chosen preserve can earn its place in the pantry.
This is why I keep experimenting with recipes and sharing what I've learned. The work doesn't have to end with one pie, and sometimes a new favorite begins with an ingredient you were trying to use up. Have you ever tried adding five-spice flavors to cherries, or do you prefer a traditional cherry preserve?
After making two cherry pies, I really needed a different way to use up my pie cherries.
I like unusual canning recipes that let my imagination run wild - both when creating them and later on when using them.
I came across this recipe for five spice cherries, gave it a try and loved it!
Here is the recipe.
Print
Five Spice Cherry Canning Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pints tart pie cherries, pitted
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cinnamon sticks (each one was approximately 3 inches long)
- 1 whole star anise
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 tablspoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon licorice root powder
- ¼ teaspoon mixed peppercorns (pink, green, black and white)
Instructions
- Put the water, lime juice. powdered licorice root and sugar in a stainless steel saucepan and brought it to a boil.
- Continue to boil it - stirring continually - until the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside.
- Place the cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves and peppercorns into the bottom of a half-gallon canning jar.
- Put the pitted cherries - along with their juice - on top of the spices.
- Add the hot sugar water to the jar.
- Place a plastic screw-on lid made for canning jars on the jar and set it aside to cool.
- Once the contents of the jar are cool to the touch, refrigerate it.
- These cherries are tart - so pair them with whipped cream or a sweet dessert such as homemade ice cream.
- If you wish to make a larger batch and preserve them, fill quart jars to ½ inch from the top and process the jars in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.
Notes
Note: These are delicious in homemade ice cream recipes!
How To Sterilize And Pack Canning Jars
For those who are new to canning - or simply need a refresher on what to do, I wanted to share this video I made on how to sterilize and pack canning jars. I used green beans for the tutorial, but the method works for any product you are canning. Be sure to double check how much head space to leave above whatever you are canning as it does vary. Packing the jars as tightly as possible is super important as is making sure the air bubbles trapped between the food in the jar and the liquid are released. Cleanliness is important as you do not want bacteria or non-food stuff to end up in your jars as it could cause spoilage.
I highly recommend the following articles:
- Orange-Cranberry Vinegar And Marinade
- How To Make Homemade Maraschino Cherries
- Five Spice Cherry Homemade Recipe For Ice Cream
- How To Can Broccoli
- Cinnamon Chocolate Mint Fruit Cocktail Recipe
Use the buttons in the upper right hand corner to share this article with friends or family who might find it useful. Pin the picture below to your pinboard on Pinterest for future reference.
More Homesteading Recipes and Food Preservation Ideas
Enjoy finding useful ways to work with the harvest? Join my Experimental Homesteader newsletter for recipes, food preservation ideas and practical projects from the homestead. I share what I am learning in my own kitchen and resources that can help you make more of the food you grow and store. The form below is a newsletter signup, so you can keep exploring these topics beyond this cherry recipe.
