Cherry Water

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cherry pitter
• •2-quart nonreactive bowl
• •Medium-fine sieve
• •Flexible bowl scraper or wooden spoon
• •Fine muslin folded double or a jelly bag
• •2-quart glass jug or carafe
• •Optional refractometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Pit the cherries

   Rinse and stem the cherries, then pit them over a nonreactive bowl so every drop of juice is caught. Keep the fruit and juice together. Discard the stones intact; do not crack them. The book drew its noyau aroma from crushed stones, but the cyanogenic compounds inside cherry kernels vary too widely for safe home measurement. Culinary almond extract replaces only that unsafe action, preserving the intended aroma and sequence.

2. 2

   Rub through the sieve

   Set a medium-fine sieve over a large bowl and press the cherries through it with a flexible scraper or the back of a wooden spoon. Work patiently until the bowl holds a thick ruby purée and the sieve holds mostly skins and stubborn fibers. Do not use a blender: its speed chops the skins, traps air, and gives the finished water a muddy texture. Sieving is the foundation here.

3. 3

   Macerate the noyau note

   Stir half the almond extract into the cherry purée, cover, and refrigerate for one full hour. Taste after the hour: the purée should smell distinctly of cherry, followed by a quiet almond note. If the almond leads, add no more extract; the water and sugar still to come will soften it. If it is absent, reserve the remaining extract for the final adjustment. Restraint matters because an over-perfumed drink cannot be strained back into balance.

4. 4

   Moisten and clarify

   Stir the cold filtered water into the macerated purée. Wet a jelly bag or two layers of fine muslin with cold filtered water, wring it out, and suspend it over a clean bowl. Pour in the diluted purée and let gravity carry the liquid through for 15 to 20 minutes. Never twist or squeeze the cloth, which forces fine pulp through and clouds the drink. If the liquid remains gritty or opaque, pass it through freshly dampened muslin once more. Ça se rattrape.

   A translucent ruby color is the aim, not perfect transparency. The cloth removes grit while leaving enough cherry body for the drink to taste of fruit rather than colored water.
5. 5

   Sweeten and chill

   Pour about 1 cup of the strained cherry water into a jug, add the sugar, and stir until no crystals remain, then mix it back into the rest. Granulated sugar replaces the book's loaf sugar gram for gram; the shape changed, not its work. Add the large filtered-water ice cube and refrigerate for 20 minutes, stirring once as the ice softens. If you own a refractometer, check before adding kirsch: the book's 9-degree saccharometer mark is roughly 16 degrees Brix. If the reading is high, add filtered water 1 tablespoon at a time; if low, dissolve sugar into a small portion and return it to the bowl.

   Do not warm the juice to hurry the sugar. Gentle stirring preserves the high, fresh perfume that heat would flatten.
6. 6

   Finish with kirsch

   Remove any unmelted ice and taste the water thoroughly chilled. Add the remaining almond extract drop by drop only if the noyau note is missing; cherry must remain the first aroma. Stir in the kirsch just before serving so its dry fruit perfume stays vivid. Pour into cold small glasses or seal in a chilled bottle for the picnic, keeping it nestled in ice until served. À table!

Chef Tips

• •This uncooked drink truly needs ripe cherries that scent the bowl before you cut them. Frozen fruit can make a good sirop de cerises for winter, but its softened perfume produces a cousin, not this eau de cerises.
• •Use only commercially prepared almond extract labeled for culinary use. Do not substitute crushed cherry kernels, bitter almonds, homemade kernel essence, or decorative fragrance; the measured extract is the safe home equivalent for the book's noyau note.
• •Choose a dry, clear kirsch rather than a sweet cherry liqueur. Kirsch supplies spirit, stone-fruit perfume, and a clean finish; a syrupy liqueur would upset the book's sugar balance.
• •The recipe deliberately keeps the book's full two pounds of cherries, one imperial pint of water standardized to 570 milliliters, six ounces of sugar, and four small liqueur glasses standardized to 120 milliliters. It is already a manageable home quantity.
• •Don't squeeze the straining cloth. Patience, not force. A second gravity pass gives better clarity than one enthusiastic wringing ever will.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the strained, sweetened base up to 24 hours ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Add the kirsch and make the final noyau adjustment only when you are ready to serve.
• •For a picnic, transfer the finished drink to a well-chilled sealed bottle and carry it nested in ice. The kirsch does not make the fresh cherry water shelf-stable.
• •Any remainder keeps refrigerated for 2 days, though its bright cherry perfume is strongest on the day it is strained.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 175g)