Sour Cherries

October 20, 2012

Sour cherries are fruits of a species of Prunus that is related to the sweet cherry but taste more acidic.  They are also known as tart cherries or wild cherries.

Sour cherries are commonly used in pastries and confections where their tartness is combated by sweetness. Cherries cooked with sugar fill pies with a fruit flavor better carried by the resulting syrup, and dried sour cherries place concentrated cherry tart in muffins and cakes (or may simply be eaten as raisins would).

There are two varieties of sour cherries.  The lighter colored amarelle cherry is illustrated here.  Morello cherries appear black to red in color.