Booze-soaked fruit, like the drunken cherries featured here, is always a good thing to have in your home bar kit. They make a wonderful garnish to cocktails and are an easy way to impress friends with your stunning culinary skills (no need to admit they're easy to make!). If you love a well-crafted cocktail, these Bourbon-soaked Drunken Cherries are the perfect garnish!
This Drunken Cherries recipe is featured in What Can I Bring?: Southern Food for Any Occasion Life Serves Up, a new cookbook from Elizabeth Heiskell, author of the popular monthly column in Southern Living magazine that bears the same name. What Can I Bring? solves the problem of what to bring to an event as well as what to bring to your own table with scrumptious dishes that win big every time. Recipes include comforting Southern dishes for every meal of the day and every occasion with chapters covering events like Bringing Baby Home and Under the Weather to Dinner with Friends and Weekend Getaways. This cookbook is the perfect solution to the ever-present questions: What should I make for dinner and What should I bring to the party?
Drunken Cherries
Serves 8
Hands-on: 10 minutes. Total: 8 hours, 10 minutes, including 8 hours chilling
"This is another of my favorite gifts to give. I always keep a batch for myself! You can use these little guys on top of store-bought cake, ice cream, or pie. Talk about turning store-bought into spectacular! They are always a lovely addition to any cocktail. This recipe is a New Orleans favorite. Of course, in NOLA even the fruit gets tipsy! These cherries are delicious on their own, but they make for a to-die-for Old-Fashioned." ~Elizabeth Heiskell
2 (3- x 1-inch) orange peel strips
1⁄4 cup packed light brown sugar
1⁄2 cup (4 ounces) bourbon
1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup thawed frozen or fresh pitted cherries (about 16 cherries)
Place the orange peel strips and sugar in a 1-pint jar with a tight-fitting lid. Using the back of a spoon, muddle until the peel releases juices. Add the bourbon and vanilla. Cover with the lid, and shake vigorously until sugar dissolves. Remove the lid, and add the cherries. Cover with the lid, and chill 8 to 12 hours. Store at room temperature for 3 months or in the refrigerator up to 1 year.
Excerpted from What Can I Bring? by Elizabeth Heiskell. Copyright © 2017 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Time Inc. New York, NY. All rights reserved.
