Cherry on Top: Elevate Your Confections with Cherry Flavours
Cherries are having a real moment, everywhere you look there’s a cherry Bakewell loaf cake or a Black Forest gateau just waiting to tangle your taste buds. With over 1,000 varieties of cherry worldwide, there’s no shortage of little red stone fruits to choose from for your confectionery creations.
Despite cherry season being over for another year here in the UK, there are lots of ways you can incorporate this sometimes-sweet, sometimes-sour fruit into your chocolate and bakery products all year round.
Fancy hopping on the cherry flavour trend train? Keep reading for all the delicious details and to discover…
- What is a cherry?
- What are the different types of cherry?
- What cherry flavoured products are available to chefs and chocolatiers?
- What other flavours pair well with cherry?
- And a few recipes to try!
by Lyndsey Hall
10 October 2024
Cherries, Berries and Stone Fruit
If you thought cherries were a type of berry, you’re not alone. But in actual fact, they’re a member of the stone fruit family (also known as a ‘fleshy drupe’).
Cherries are also a superfood with anti-inflammatory properties; high in antioxidants, vitamins A and C, potassium and fibre. So, not only are they delicious, but they’re good for you, too!
There are roughly 1,200 varieties of cherry worldwide, but only a handful are widely used in food and drink, and they can be divided into two main categories: sweet and sour.
Sweet Cherries
Generally, the darker the colour of a cherry’s skin, the sweeter its flavour. The most common sweet cherries are the black cherry, America’s favourite: the bing cherry, and the somewhat rarer, white or rainier cherry.
- Black cherries (prunus serotina) tend to be sweet with very little tartness. They can be eaten raw or used in cooking and baking; they make a delicious pie filling!
- Bing cherries (prunus avium ‘Bing’) are deep purple-red in colour and are slightly tarter than black cherries, with a fruity, berry flavour. They can be eaten uncooked, but are also perfect for jams and preserves.
- Rainier cherries (prunus avium ‘Rainier’) are also called white cherries or blush cherries, but their flesh is more of a yellow with a red tinge in places. They’re sweet and fresh, with floral and peach notes. Being a slightly rarer variety of cherry, they can be more expensive than other types, so work best in applications where they’ll really shine, like in a salad or as a garnish.
Sour Cherries
Sour cherries – known as tart cherries in the US – are popular in confectionery for their tart, acidic flavour, which pairs well with sweeter ingredients. The most well-known sour cherry varieties are morello cherry (prunus cerasus) and montmorency cherries (prunus cerasus ‘Montmorency’).
- Morello cherries are probably the best-known sour cherry in the world, originating from the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, and brought to Western Europe by the Greeks or Romans (depending on which story you believe). Morello cherries are used to make glacé cherries, the bright red cherries you find in cocktail bars and ice cream parlours. And they’re also the type used to make our favourite Griottines!
- Montmorency cherries are high in melatonin (great for a good night’s sleep) and thought to benefit the immune system, so you’ll often find them in natural remedies and supplements. And they’re also delicious, of course!
Cherry Products for Chocolatiers, Chefs & Bakers
Fruit can be a tricky customer when it comes to crafting chocolates and pastries, due to the water content. Which is why we offer so many different varieties of fruit product to choose from, including purées, freeze-dried pieces and flavouring pastes. Whether you’re whipping up a chocolate and cherry ganache, or baking a scrumptious cherry Bakewell, we’ve got the perfect solution:
Whole and Chopped Cherries
If you’re looking for a way to incorporate real pieces of cherry into your recipe, whether whole or chopped, we’ve got a few options to choose from.
Freeze Dried Sour Cherry Pieces have a low water content, making them suitable for adding into chocolate bars, bonbons, flapjacks, cereal bars, cakes and pastries. Not only do they add a deliciously tart and fruity flavour, they have a great shelf life so your products will stay fresh for longer.
Griottines are made using a very special type of Morello cherry, the Oblachinska cherry, found only in the Balkans. They’re macerated in different liqueurs according to an age-old, secret recipe, and finally steeped in Kirsch for a delectable and sophisticated treat. Thanks to the alcohol content, these fabulous cherries have an extended shelf life and are perfect for popping inside bonbons, mixing into ganache or simply using to decorate a cake. Choose from Griottines ‘Original’ for whole, stoned cherries, Chopped Griottines for pieces in a thickened juice, and Griottines ‘Decor’ for cherries with the stalk – perfect for use as a delicious decoration!
Cherry Purée
Ravifruit’s ambient fruit purées are a gamechanger for busy chefs and chocolatiers, as they’re shelf-stable for up to 12 months before opening. Made from 90% fruit and 10% sugar, they’re also completely natural with no added colours, flavours or preservatives, so perfect for clean label products and unprocessed food fans.
Our Morello Cherry Purée is made from the finest morello cherries, giving it a deep red colour and tart flavour, with bold cherry notes and a hint of sweetness. It’s fantastic for making fruity desserts, ice cream and gelato, mousses, jams and jellies, cocktails and coulis, and paté de fruits.
Cherry Filling
Our Colac cherry fillings come in two varieties: bakestable and post-bake. Both are chunky with real pieces of cherry, and ideal for bakers and chefs looking for simple ingredients that pack a flavourful punch.
Colac’s Black Cherry Bakestable Filling is made with 70% fruit and can be used as a pie filling or mixed into cheesecake or batter before baking. It also makes fabulous cherry Danish pastries!
Cherry Sundae Topping is ideal for cold applications, such as layering in an ice cream sundae, piping into doughnuts or spooning into pastries post-bake. It’s also great on cheesecake, pancakes and other desserts as a delicious finishing touch.
Cherry Flavourings
If you’re looking for an economical way to add cherry flavour to your products, our concentrated flavouring pastes are the perfect solution.
Colac Cherry Flavour Compound is a smooth, dark red paste that gives an authentic cherry taste to your cakes, buttercreams, ganache and more. With such a potent flavouring product, only small doses are needed, making this an effective and affordable option.
Our Sour Cherry Flavour Compound is made from 100% concentrated fruit and includes real chunks of cherry, so not only does it give your creations a realistic cherry flavour, it also adds texture and real fruit pieces.
Or, for a bit of a kick and a cherry aroma, try adding Kirsch to your chocolate ganache! It’s not only great for adding flavour, but also extends the shelf life of your chocolates.
Cherry Topping Sauce
For the final touch of cherry elegance, a drizzle of Colac Cherry Topping Sauce is exactly what you need to top off your desserts, ice creams and crepes. Rich in flavour and non-synthetic tasting, this indulgent topping sauce is made with real cherries for a really authentic cherry taste. It’s the perfect finishing product for dessert shops, gelaterias and pastry chefs.
Perfectly Paired in Every Way
Cherries have a bold, slightly tart flavour that stands out on its own, but it also pairs beautifully with lots of other delicious flavours. Here are a few of our favourites:
Pairing Chocolate and Cherry
Cherries pair brilliantly with chocolate, especially dark chocolates with fruity notes, like Valrhona Manjari 64%, Veliche Gourmet Essential 54 or Cacao Barry Favorites Mi-Amere. Prefer a milk chocolate? Callebaut’s Power 41 is a milk chocolate that packs a cocoa punch and would taste fantastic with sour cherries.
White chocolate and cherry is another indulgently moreish combination, pairing the tartness of sour cherries with the creamy sweetness of the white chocolate. Try Valrhona Amatika Blanche 35%, with its subtle almond flavour, for a divine pairing!
Or for something really special, Callebaut Gold chocolate, a white chocolate with caramel, tastes even more heavenly when combined with cherries!
And to enhance the flavour of your cherries, Ruby chocolate is a brilliant accompaniment.
Pairing Cherry and Nuts
Did you know cherry trees and almond trees are related? The pit inside a cherry has an almond-like flavour as a result, giving cherries a hint of almond that makes them pair perfectly with nuts and even Amaretto.
Whether you combine your cherries with almonds, pistachios or hazelnuts, you’ll find yourself in fruit and nut paradise!
Pairing Cherry with Other Fruits
If you’re wondering which other fruits go with cherry, the answer is, lots! Citrus fruits taste incredible with cherries, especially lemons, limes and nectarines. Other stone fruits also go great with cherries, from peaches to plums and apricots.
Coconut also pairs beautifully with cherries, bringing a softer, tropical taste to your culinary creations.
Cherries With Herbs and Spices
When it comes to spices and cherry, the warmer the better! Vanilla is a perfect choice, but you could also try tonka bean, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or allspice.
As for herbs, you’ll find cherry tastes great with mint, basil, thyme, sage, and even coriander!
Cherry-Picked Recipes
We’ve hand-selected our cherry best recipes for chocolatiers, bakers, chefs, ice cream makers and baristas. Have a look and see if any of these take your fancy:
Chocolate Recipes
- Cherry, Ginger & Lemon Chocolates
- Cherry & Pistachio Enrobed Bonbons (from the UK&I Chocolate Academy)
Bakery & Patisserie Recipes
- Bakewell Loaf Cakes (on the Keylink Bakery Instagram!)
- Chocolate and Cherry Scones (from the UK&I Chocolate Academy)
Dessert Recipes
- Cherry Chocolate Trifle
- Vegan Dark Chocolate & Cherry Cheesecake (from the UK&I Chocolate Academy)
Ice Cream & Gelato Recipes
Drink Recipes
- Kirsch and Cherry Hot Chocolate (on the Keylink Blog!)
Feeling inspired? Go and try a few recipes to see what flavour combinations you like best. And don’t forget to tag us on social media @keylinkltd, we’d love to see what fabulous cherry flavoured creations you come up with!
Lyndsey is a marketing executive, writer and lover of books and chocolate from Sheffield.
Her favourite chocolate is Cacao Barry Lactee Superieure.