Kirschwasser
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Ingredients
1lb cherries, 1/2 cup caster sugar, 1 cup alcohol (beer, brandy or red wine, are traditional) 1/2 tsp vanilla essence, 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
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As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Germany. Kirsch is a glorious, heady cold fruit soup consisting of essentially booze and whole, pitted cherries. In researching this recipe I found so many variations from those using milk or soured cream to those using beer or red wine. In the end, I went with a mixture of sloe gin and brandy simply because that was what I had in my cupboard and I can assure you that it is a knockout combination!
1) Pit the cherries, discarding the stones and add the fruit to a milk pan
2) Measure in the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla essence, top up with the booze and either 1/2 cup water or the excess cherry juice if you are using canned cherries (I used fresh fruit so I topped this up with a little apple juice).
3) Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Revel in the utterly divine smell. REVEL I SAY.
4) Chill and serve! I tried this with a blob of soured cream and also with sweet dumplings and I'll be honest I preferred it just on its own!
