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Cherry-Amaretto Dessert Sauce

Source of Recipe

From "Blue Ribbon Preserves" by Linda J. Amendt


Recipe Introduction

"This wonderful sauce turns dessert into a special occasion any day of the week. Serve it over vanilla ice cream or spoon it over a rich, buttery pound cake for a quick, elegant dessert. Either sweet or sour cherries may be used to make this sauce, depending on your personal taste and what you have available that is fresh and of high quality. Avoid sweet cherries that are very ripe, as they will tend to become mushy and the sauce will end up being too sweet. If you use sour cherries, use the smaller quantity of lemon juice."

List of Ingredients

• 8 cups pitted fresh cherries
• ½ cup strained fresh lemon juice for sweet cherries or 2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice for sour cherries
• 2½ cups light corn syrup
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 1 (3-ounce) pouch liquid pectin
• 1 tsp pure almond extract or 2 to 3 tablespoons amaretto


Recipe

Rinse and stem the cherries. Using a cherry pitter, remove the pits from the cherries.

In an 8-quart pan, layer the cherries, lemon juice, corn syrup and sugar. Over medium-low heat, gradually heat the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved, gently shaking the pan occasionally to prevent scorching.

Increase the heat to medium and bring the cherry mixture to a boil. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Increase the heat to medium-high. Bring the cherries to a boil, stirring constantly, but gently. Stir in the entire contents of the pectin pouch. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Skim off any foam. Stir in the almond extract or amaretto. Cool 5 minutes, occasionally stirring gently.

Ladle the cherries and sauce into hot jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Using a plastic knife, remove any trapped air bubbles. Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth. Cover with hot lids and apply screw rings. Process half-pint jars in a 200°F water bath for 10 minutes, pint jars for 15 minutes.


Makes about 6 half-pint jars or 3 pint jars