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Made with fresh summer cherries, you’re going to love this delicious Cherry Syrup recipe. This is a delightful homemade treat for pancakes, waffles, baked goods, drinks, and more.
There is no such thing as too many fresh in-season cherries! These bites of sunshine deserve to be enjoyed in bulk. But there are days when you want to savor that taste longer than the short cherry season lasts.
And that is where this easy cherry syrup recipe truly shines. You can keep it in the fridge, freeze some for later, or even can it. You’ve got options. Go get some gorgeous cherries, and let’s do this.
Ingredient Notes
- Cherries – I used sweet cherries for this recipe. If you’re using sour cherries, you will want to adjust the sugar to taste.
- Lemon juice – I recommend fresh if possible, but bottled works too. The lemon juice is optional and if you are canning this recipe, you do not need to include it for safety purposes. The sugar will act as the preservative.
How to Make Cherry Syrup From Scratch
*I’ll walk you through it here with some photos and tips, and you’ll also find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post with exact measurements, etc. You can click “jump to recipe” to skip down.
Wash the cherries and remove the stems. You do not need to pit the cherries unless you really want to. And who wants to do more work? Not this lady!
Place your cherries in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan (I used my enameled Dutch oven). Cook cherries over medium heat and gently mush them with a wooden spoon or spatula as they heat up.
Add in the sugar and lemon juice, and continue to cook, stirring often until the syrup comes to a boil.
Cook at a boil for two minutes, stirring the whole time. You may need to lower the heat a bit to keep the syrup from boiling over. Have you ever cleaned up hot and sticky syrup from your stovetop? I have, and I don’t recommend it. Zero stars, unsubscribe.
Remove the pot from the heat and allow the syrup to cool for ~10-15 minutes. It doesn’t need to be fully cooled, just not lava hot.
Place a fine metal sieve over a bowl and carefully pour the syrup through the sieve to strain out the pits. I used a spatula to press all the extra bits of cherry goodness through the strainer. It takes a few minutes of working at it, but it’s still less time than pitting all the cherries ahead of time!
If storing in the fridge, allow the syrup to fully cool before placing it in a jar/bottle in the fridge. Want to can your cherry syrup to make it shelf-stable? Read on!
Canning Cherry syrup
Prepare your water bath canner by filling it with water, and setting it on the stove. Turn the burner to high. Once it reaches a boil, reduce it to simmer until you’re ready to can the cherry syrup.
Wash and sanitize your jars. You’ll want to keep them warm to avoid having them crack when placed in the canner. You can fill them with hot water, or place them on a tray in the oven at 170˚F.
Wash your lids and set them aside in a clean place. You no longer need to simmer lids in water to keep them sterile. Woot!
Using a funnel and a ladle, add the syrup to your prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace at the top. Headspace is the amount of room between the top of the food, and the top rim of the jar.
Using a wet clean rag, wipe the rim to make sure there isn’t any sticky syrup on there.Â
Place a new clean lid on the jar and then a canning ring. Tighten the ring to fingertip tight (tight enough that it won’t come off, but not so tight that a normal person couldn’t budge it).
Using canning tongs, add your jars to the boiling water, and put the canner lid on. Pro tip: you must have at least 1 inch of water over the tops of the jars for safe canning. Processing times will vary based on altitude. See the chart below.
Processing Times for Cherry Syrup
Once the processing time is up, remove the canner from heat, remove the lid of the canner, and let the canner sit for 5 minutes. Use canning tongs and remove the jars and place them on towels on the counter. Make sure you put them where they can be undisturbed for 12-24 hours.
After everything has cooled, check the seal by pushing down on the middle of the lid. If it doesn’t give way, it’s sealed. Label the jars, and store in a cool dark place for up to a year. If the lid bows a little bit, put that in the fridge and use it within 2 weeks.
Making Syrup With Frozen Fruit
YES, you can use frozen fruit for making syrup. Hurray! You’ll need to cook down the cherries a bit longer to reduce the liquid that is produced while they thaw. Or, you can thaw them ahead of time and discard the liquid.
Check out this post on how to freeze cherries if you have lots of leftover fresh cherries.
Storage
Non-canned: Store in the fridge for up to two weeks, or freeze for 3-6 months.
Canned: Once the jars have sealed, remove the rings. Label and store sealed jars in a cool (best results are 50-70ËšF) dark place for up to 12-18 months.
If you have the space available, do not stack the jars on top of each other more than two jars high. If you open a jar for use and don’t use it all, you can store it in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- The sugar listed in this recipe is for using sweet cherries. If you’re using sour cherries, you will want to adjust the sugar to taste.
- Recipe makes 2-2.5 8oz jam jars.
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Wash the cherries and remove the stems.
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Place cherries in a large saucepan.
4 cups cherries
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Cook cherries over medium heat and gently mush them with a wooden spoon or spatula as they heat up.
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Add in the sugar and lemon juice, and continue to cook, stirring often until the syrup comes to a boil.
1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp lemon juice
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Cook at a boil for two minutes, stirring the whole time. You may need to lower the heat a bit to keep the syrup from boiling over.
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Remove the pot from the heat and allow the syrup to cool for ~10-15 minutes.
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Place a fine metal sieve over a bowl and carefully pour the syrup through the sieve to strain out the pits.
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If storing in the fridge, allow the syrup to fully cool before placing it in a jar/bottle in the fridge. Store for up to two weeks.
How to Can Cherry Syrup
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Prepare your water bath canner by filling it with water. You just need to have enough water to cover the jars by 1 inch once the water is boiling.
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Set the canner on the stove. Turn the burner to high.
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Wash and sanitize your jars. You’ll want to keep them warm to avoid having them crack when placed in the canner. You can fill them with hot water, or place them on a tray in the oven at 170˚F.
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Wash your lids and set aside in a clean bowl.
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Ladle in the warm syrup into jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove any bubbles from the jar (I use a plastic chopstick).
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Use a wet clean rag and wipe the rim of the jars to make sure it is free of any syrup.
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Place a clean lid on the jar. Add a ring, and tighten to fingertip tight.
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Using canning tongs, add jars to the boiling water, and put the canner lid on. Pro tip: you must have at least 1 inch of water over the tops of the jars for safe canning.
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Process half-pints and pints based on the elevation guide below:*0-1,000 ft – Half-Pints & Pints =10 min *1,001-6,000 ft – Half-Pints & Pints =15 min *6,000 ft+ – Half-Pints & Pints =20 minÂ
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Once the jam has processed for the appropriate amount of time, remove the canner from the burner, and carefully remove the lid of the canner (Pro tip: use oven mitts to take the lid off because the steam is super hot).
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Using the canning tongs, remove the jars and place them on a thick towel in a place where they won’t be disturbed for 12 hours.
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After 12 hours, check the seal on the jars by pressing down in the center of the lid. If there is any give, either refrigerate and use those jars in the next month or reprocess.
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Store in a cool dark place for 12-18 months.
- Store in the fridge for up to two weeks, or freeze for 3-6 months.
- If you choose to can it, you can store it in a cool dark place for up to 12 months.
- Makes 2-2.5 cups, or enough for two 8oz jam jars, or ~1 pint.
Serving: 2tbspCalories: 37kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 0.3gFat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.01gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.01gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.01gSodium: 0.1mgPotassium: 62mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 18IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 4mgIron: 0.1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
