Cherry Recipes (A guide to French varieties and recipes)

Cherries in France mean summer market stalls piled high with glossy red fruit - and I still can't walk past them without stopping. From sweet Bigarreau cherries to candied fruits from Apt, here's my guide to French cherries, how to use them and my favourite cherry recipes.

French cherries piled high at the market

Table of Contents

What are Cherries - a Berry or a Fruit?

Cherries are stone fruits since they contain a pit or cherry stone inside. Unlike berries, which contain mainly edible seeds, cherry stones are inedible.

Benefits of Eating Cherries

According to Cerises de France, cherries are not just delicious to eat but have many healthy qualities. Cherries contain calcium, iron, copper, magnesium and are high in zinc, manganese, iodine and selenium.

Cherries naturally contain more fruit sugar than many berries, which gives them their sweetness and quick energy boost. Darker cherries also tend to contain more antioxidants and carotenoids.

Infusing cherry stalks into an infusion is supposed to be a good diuretic.

Cherry Season in France

Summer: end May to mid July.

dish of black cherries with a cherry macaron on top

French Cherry Varieties

Just some of the main cherry varieties we enjoy in France. To tell if they're fresh, cherry stems are fresh and not dry.

The Bigarreau cherry is the most popular variety in France with a firm skin and sweet. There are many varying cherry colours of sweetness and acidity that belong to its family (e.g. Burlat being most popular, Summit and Van);
Two sweet cherry varieties which carry on the season into July in France are both the Canada Giant and La Sweatheart;
The darkest cherries are the sweetest. The tart ones are lighter in colour;
Other dark cherry types include: La Earlise, La Early Red, Pacific Red, la Bellise.
The Montmorency cherry is a particularly acidic variety grown since the 17th Century in Île-de-France and best used in jams and preserves;
Louis XV apparently was mad about cherries - as was Napoleon Bonaparte. So much so, the lighter coloured Napoleon cherry is named after him;
The Guigne variety is reserved for making Kirsch, the famous cherry alcohol, which I love to add a little to a classic French cherry clafoutis.

What Pairs Well With Cherries?

According to Niki Segnit in her fabulous book, 'The Flavour Thesaurus', cherries go well with many ingredients. They pair well with coffee, coconut, hazelnut, smoked fish, cinnamon, banana, lamb and peach. Chocolate is another gorgeous flavour combination - see recipes below.

One ingredient not mentioned is cardamom, however, which is a surprising combination. Try this warming spice in this simple cherry sauce for example - it's so good, it can cope with being served with meats to dessert such as pistachio ice cream!

candied glacé cherries at the French candied museum in Apt

Glacé Cherries - Candied from Apt

Every time we visit my parents-in-law in Provence, I somehow end up leaving Apt with far more candied fruit than planned. The famous glazed cherries sold there taste nothing like the bright supermarket versions many of us grew up with.

Since the Romans, fruits were preserved with honey to preserve them until sugar was discovered during the Crusades. However, cherries are candied in the Luberon, the sunny Provençal region that grows the most cherries and most popular for Glacé or candied cherries.

The most famous come from the town of Apt the world famous capital of candied fruit. AptUnion is the largest manufacturer with a factory shop. In 1962, several Apt family confectioners decided to join in a cooperative and in 1988 became La Maison du Fruit Confit. The factory now also has a candied fruit museum and tearoom.

According to AptUnion, the Bigarreau Napoléon cherry variety is best for candying to make glacé cherries, thanks to its firm white flesh. Used in all sorts of British-style cakes, in France they're most famous in a brioche des rois, a version of the galette des rois or King Cake served at Epiphany.

Marasquin candied cherries in Apt, the world capital of candied fruit in France

Maraschino Cherries Explained

Maraschino or Marasquin cherries are bright red cherries preserved in syrup and flavoured with bitter almond. At the AptUnion they still contain the stalk.

As they are strong in bitter almond and pretty sweet, they are best eaten sparingly as a garnish for cocktails.

How to Preserve Cherries

To preserve cherries, roasting them is the quickest and easiest way at home.

To roast, spread out washed cherries in an ovenproof dish or roasting tin, sprinkle over a little sugar, a splash of Kirsch liqueur and roast in the oven at 200°C/400°F (180°C fan/Gas 6) for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool then decant into jars and store in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze.

Delicious with many dessert recipes below or simply on vanilla ice cream. Try on chestnut vanilla ice cream.

glass dish of ice cream topped with glistening roasted cherries — Roasted cherries are a great way of preserving the fruit. Serve with ice cream

Almond and Cherries - A Good Match

Above all, cherries are great with almonds. Here are some recipe ideas of them together:

Add cherries instead of strawberries in this upside-down almond tart.
Replace strawberries in this gluten free clafoutis made with ground almonds.
Add to the traditional galette des rois (French King Cake) at Epiphany. Either made with traditional almond cream or pistachio.
Add chopped cherries (fresh, roasted or glacé) to almond financier cakes.

saucepan of frozen cherries and spices to make a sauce — a simple cherry sauce is made in minutes with either fresh or frozen

Best Cherry Recipes - with Pitted or Unpitted Cherries

Here are a collection of recipes with cherries. Whether you pit them or not is a question of taste. We prefer them unpitted, but if you are serving to anyone fragile at the table (elderly or young), it's best to remove the stones first. Here's a great cherry pitter.

slice of traditional French cherry clafoutis showing whole black cherries and a baked custard topping with toasted flaked almonds

The most classic French cherry dessert is Cherry Clafoutis. Basically a baked custard with cherries, it's also great chilled for breakfast.

black forest chocolate cherry cream with macarons

No Bake Chocolate Puddings are easy individual desserts to make. Serve chilled with either fresh or Amarena cherries (almond flavoured in syrup) all year round.

Black Forest Creams - Delicious during cherry season, these trifle-style desserts are made gluten free with chocolate macaron shells.

individual rose panna cotta with a dark cherry and cardamom sauce

Simple Cherry Sauce, the most versatile that goes with duck and other meats to dessert. Make from either fresh or frozen cherries - particularly dark Morello sour. Serve as a blended coulis with white chocolate panna cotta or dribble on top of the best French toast (pain perdu).

deep pink cherry chocolate macarons with stalks as decor

Chocolate cherry ganache is a delicious macaron filling. Made with either fresh or frozen cherries.

glass dish of chocolate mousse with cherries

Serve fresh cherries on top of this light and airy French dark chocolate mousse.

oat biscuits topped with glace cherries on white plate and birthday candles

Melting Moments are mini oat cookies studded with glacé cherries. Quick to make and always a hit at my children's birthday parties - now even when they're adults!