Cherries – ripe for the picking…

Literally, the cherries on the tree that I have rented from Michael Dallaway down in East Sussex have had their fill of sunshine and are ready to be devoured! I am off this weekend with boxes ready in the car, to pick from my allocated tree. However, before I can even consider how much fruit we will have, I need to plan my "batterie de cuisine".

What to do with up to 30kg of ready to eat cherries? Eat them? Not all of them!

A large jar of cherries in kirsch – bought in a supermarket January sale was the hook which made the idea of renting a whole cherry tree so enticing, so steeping cherries in kirsch is an obvious use. But what else... ? Fresh cherries from a bowl of iced water through the day? Other recipes in the running are cherry jam, cherry compote, cherry ice cream plus a few desserts classics such as clafoutis, cheesecakes and chocolate puddings. At this rate I may run out of cherries?