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Abruzzo Cherry Ratafià

Total Time 80 days
Course Drinks
Cuisine Italian

Ingredients
  

  • `1 kg Pitted Ripe Sour Cherries
  • 1 l Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
  • 300 g Drinking Alcohol
  • 300 g Caster Sugar

Spices & Herbs

  • 20 g Vanilla, 1 Cinnamon Stick or
  • 1 Cinnamon Stick, 5 Cloves

Instructions
 

  • Remove the cherry stems, rinse and clean them by dabbing them with a cloth, then de-stone them with the appropriate tool or cut them in half and throw away the stones if you want a less almondy taste.
  • Put the cherry halves and cherry juice leaks in an airtight glass container, add your choice of spices and the wine.  Close the container and make sure it gets a few hours in the direct summer sun daily for 40 days. Bring it back indoors at night to avoid excessive changes in temperature. Be careful that in this phase as the cherries will ferment, so it is important that the liquid in the bottle remains at least a dozen centimetres below the cap to counter an explosion! Gently shake the container two or three times a week.
  • After 40 days, drain the cherries through a cloth, remove the spices and add only the wine back into the container. Add the sugar and stir until it dissolves completely.
  • Squeeze the cherries through a potato masher to recover as much juice as possible, add to your bottle and then add the alcohol and stir. Close the bottle and let it mature for 40 more days in a cool, dark place. (Don't let the remains of the cherries go to waste, they're great swirled into cupcakes or in ice-cream).
  • Carefully filter your Abruzzo cherry ratafià, bottle it and let it rest in the dark for at least another month before consuming it cold from the fridge. (Bottles of these make Christmas presents!)
Keyword Cherries, Amarena, Liqueurs, Liqueurs
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