Sour cherries are wild fruits that are similar to black Amarena cherries and Marasca cherries (they are three different varieties of the Prunus Cerasus) and they are a distant relative to cherries, the fruits of the Prunus Avium.

Sour cherries are small and round, they have a bright red, juicy and crunchy flesh with a sweet aroma and a slightly sour note. They are particularly widespread in the Marche region: people from this region even drink sour cherries! Sour cherry wine is, indeed, a local specialty.

Sour cherries taste the best in jams or, even better, packed in syrup. We have selected SiGi’s sour cherries that are incredibly delicious since no water is added. They are left to cook in the sun!

The “recipe”, so to speak, is beyond simple: ripe sour cherries and sugar are packed in jars that are left in the sun for around 40 days and shaken every two days. While the fruits dehydrate and the taste becomes more concentrated, the sugar melts, thus forming a thick syrup that has an intense and unforgettable flavour.

Just open the jar…

Sour cherries cooked in the sun are an actual delicacy. They can be added straight from the jar to ice cream or yoghurt or they can be paired with pudding, soufflés or custard-filled sfogliatella (puff pastry dessert).

They can also replace Amarena cherries in traditional recipes for a new twist. They can be used to garnish Zeppole di San Giovanni (cream puffs) or to fill Pasticciotto from Lecce (cream-filled pastry)!

They also taste amazing in the Crostata amalfitana (lemon custard and sour cherry tart) or the Polacca aversana (brioche pastry with custard and sour cherries). The former is made with a sweet pastry, while the latter with a brioche pastry, but both have a rich filling of Italian pastry cream and Amarena cherries or, in our case, sour cherries.

Those were some ideas to use sundried sour cherries straight from the jar, but, if you have some spare time, why not baking an exceptional dessert? Here you can find four delicious recipes to enhance the unique flavour of sundried sour cherries.

Cheesecake with no jelly

Fruit is usually added as a topping or garnish; however, sundried sour cherries are so delicious that we like to add them to the custard, too. 

Prepare the usual cheesecake crust (150g of biscuits and 70g of melted butter) and put it in the fridge. Mix well in a bowl 500g of spreadable cheese, 100g of ricotta cheese and 150g of sugar. Mix the drained, sundried sour cherries, putting the syrup aside, with 250ml of whipped cream. Fold from the bottom to the top, pour everything on the cheesecake crust, level everything out with the back of a spoon and let it rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours.

Prior to serving, garnish each slice with a copious amount of syrup. It is a simple, delicious recipe with guaranteed success.

Italian Bundt cake with Mascarpone cheese and sour cherries

One of my absolute favourite desserts. If you have a stand mixer it takes a second to make, otherwise it requires some elbow grease, but the result is worth the effort for sure!

Whip 175g of butter with 300g of sugar and add three eggs one at the time, whipping the batter well before adding the next egg. Blend with 200g of flour and 115g of Mascarpone cheese. Then, add the sour cherries previously cut in half and drained from the syrup and mix well. Pour the batter in a greased and floured ring-shaped tin and bake at 165 °C for 75 minutes.

In the meantime, boil the sour cherry syrup in a small pot over low heat. When the cake is ready and still warm, flip it over a plate, brush the bottom and edges with the syrup and serve. Simply divine!

Brownies with sour cherries

Chocolate and sour cherries – what an outstanding duo! Mix 90g of butter with 120g of dark chocolate, melt in a water bath and let it cool down. Add two beaten eggs, 225g of sugar and 90g of flour. 

Blend everything together and add the sour cherries. Pour in a greased and floured, squared tin and bake at 180 °C for roughly half an hour. Be careful not to overcook the brownies; they should be moist and soft inside.

It is more than a mid-afternoon snack – it’s a sweet snuggle.

Black forest cake 

This cake is a dream come true for all lovers of chocolate and wild fruit. Layers over layers of chocolate sponge cake, cream and sundried sour cherries– a real delicacy.

First of all, prepare the layers of sponge cake. Whip 3 eggs with the same amount of sugar (around 150g) and sift 70g of flour with 50g of potato starch and 30g of bitter cocoa powder in another bowl.

Blend the dry ingredients with the egg and sugar mixture and fold gently with a spatula from the bottom to the top. Bake at 165 °C for 30-35 minutes and the sponge cake is ready. In order to cut perfect discs, wait for the cake to completely cool down before cutting it.

You will need three discs for the black forest cake. Place the first disc down and brush it with sour cherry syrup mixed with one teaspoon of Kirsch. Spread a nice layer of whipped cream and scatter some sour cherries. Another layer of sponge cake, syrup, cream, sour cherries and yet another layer of sponge cake, syrup, cream and sour cherries.

Cover the whole cake with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and sour cherries and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat it. The preparation is a bit long, but it is not hard. If you want, you can even buy sponge cake discs in your local pastry shop.

Here you have four recipes with sundried sour cherries– 4 incredible desserts to truly enjoy the delicious flavour of sundried sour cherries.