Danish Sweet Cherry Sauce

    As promised.  A new and exciting cherry recipe as part of my Canbassador-ship with Northwest Cherries and the Washington State Fruit Commission in conjunction with SweetPresrevation.  This sauce is versatile and great served warm over roasted duck or chicken, plopped on top of hot waffles, spread onto the top of a cheesecake or thickened a bit to layer into a cake.  So many uses but, serving warm over a Danish Almond Rice Pudding is the "most traditional" use of this sauce. I cannot wait to try Cooking 'Risalamande' which is a Holiday Dessert from Denmark that this sauce tops...I will share that recipe and story later - in the meantime, can yourself up some Danish Sweet Cherry Sauce and preserve the harvest!!
​~Enjoy! Diane 

Danish Sweet Cherry Sauce 
Yield: About three pints

Ingredients: 
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 cinnamon sticks (each about 4” long)
1-1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup water
3/4 cup corn syrup
7-1/2 cups pitted sweet (or sour) cherries
1 navel orange, the zest of 3/4 orange and juice of half

Directions: 
In a large pot, combine sugar, cinnamon sticks, almond extract, water
and corn syrup. Boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat
to a gentle boil. Add cherries, orange zest and juice, and boil gently, stirring until heated through. Reduce to simmer/low and let cook for 5 more minutes so that cinnamon sticks can steep in the sauce. 
Discard cinnamon sticks.
Ladle sauce into hot jars and leave a 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles
and adjust headspace. Wipe rim and place lids and screw bands. Tighten the
screw bands finger-tight.
Place jars in prepared water bath canner, with jars completely under water. Bring
to a boil, reduce heat to maintain gentle boil and process for 10 minutes*adjusting for your altitude.
Turn off heat. Allow jars to sit in canner for 5 minutes before removing. Set jars on rack or towel out of drafts and allow to cool. Remove screw band, label and store.

​
TIP: to thicken this sauce before serving, combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons
water in a saucepan. Add 1 pint Danish Cherry Sauce. Bring to a boil over
medium-high heat and cook, stirring until sauce thickens. DO NOT ADD CORNSTARCH
BEFORE CANNING

Adapted Univ Utah/Ball Recipe & Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home