makes 2 cups
Delicate fruits like apricots and strawberries surrender their juices in just 2 to 3 hours. Cherries are more stubborn, so this recipe is a good two-part project. Set the bowl up with the cherries to macerate before going to bed, and you'll be ready to finish the recipe when you wake up.
2 cups (9 1/2 ounces/269 grams) cherries, pitted
1/2 cup (4 ounces/100 grams) natural cane sugar
Two pieces (19 grams) of orange rind, each 3 1/2 inches long
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Slice the cherries in half and add them to 2-quart pot. Sprinkle the sugar on top, then add the orange rind and extract. Stir with a spoon until the fruit is well-coated with the sugar.
Cover the bowl with a flat dish or piece of plastic wrap and let sit for 6 to 8 hours, until the cherries have slightly broken down and released their juices. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, and cook for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cherries to clean, sterilized glass canning jars.
Reduce the heat to a steady simmer, with bubbles popping gently to the surface. Cook until the juices reduce into a thick syrup, 5 to 10 minutes depending on how much juice the cherries released. Evenly spoon the syrup over the cherries in the jars. Cover the jars with clean, sterilized lids and screw on the rings. Process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes for long-term storage, or let them cool and store in the fridge for up to one month.