July is the peak season for sweet cherries and cherries! If your family loves cherries as much as mine, why not freeze a few kilos of them for the winter? So, you must know how to freeze fresh cherries. Berries are beautiful, fragrant, and seasonal. But you want to enjoy them all year round! You can continue the summer in winter, get plump berries with the smell of sunny summer from the freezer, and bake filo puffs with cherries.
Freezing cherries at home is not difficult. Saving money and benefits in one bottle. Frozen cherries are just as good as fresh cherries in baked goods, sauces, or smoothies. On an industrial scale, these berries are usually harvested by shock freezing. With this method of freezing, the fruits do not lose their taste, color, or shape, and after defrosting they remain fresh.
At home, you can freeze a cherry is also ideal, if you follow a few rules.
Freezing berries with or without pit
It all depends on what dishes you will use the fruits for. For example, for pies and other pastries, it is better to freeze pitted cherries.
Most often, cherries with a stone are used for compotes and drinks. When choosing to freeze cherries with or without a stone, it is better to build on the further intended use.
Will cherries lose their beneficial properties after freezing?
In frozen cherries, all vitamins and minerals are preserved as in fresh berries. Cherries contain a large amount of vitamin C, magnesium, iron, and B vitamins.
Cherries also contain a substance such as a coumarin, which reduces blood clotting.
Frozen berries are just as valuable as fresh ones, so be sure to freeze and treat yourself all year round.
How To Freeze Fresh Cherries – Preparation
To prepare cherries for freezing, first, rinse them gently in cool water. Then drain and let the cherry air dry completely or pat dry with paper towels. Remove spoiled berries with dents or spots. Remove leaves, twigs, and debris.
Place the clean and dried berries in a single layer on a baking sheet that fits comfortably in the freezer. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a few hours or even overnight until the cherries are completely firm. It is important that the berries are all solid, only after that you should put them in a container or bag for further storage in the freezer.
Freezing on the baking sheet first prevents the clumping that would occur if you tossed all the berries into a bag at once and then froze.
When the berry is hardened, you can transfer it to a container for long-term storage, zip lock bags, vacuum bags (vacuumers are now sold, this is very convenient), cups with a lid, etc.
If you place a cherry in a storage container while it is still soft, the berries on top will crush the cherry on the bottom before it freezes.
An important tip, do not forget to label and date what you send in a deep and long freeze. Otherwise, in the bowels of the freezer, it is sometimes difficult to find something and understand what is in the mysterious bag or container. A small piece of paper and a few words are enough, for example, Cherry, July 19, 2021.
How to remove the stone from a cherry
To remove the pit from the cherry, use a pin or a special device.
Frozen cherries for cocktails
If you have molds for ice, then you are the owner of the most beautiful ice for cocktails.
It is convenient to freeze cherries with a stone in the form of a cube. Agree, the cherry will look aesthetically beautiful in a glass/glass and is divided into portions, but this is very convenient.
Grated cherries without pit
In this version of freezing, the cherry is already ready for use. The recipe is very simple.
Prepare the cherries (wash, remove leaves, etc.), dry them with a towel, and remove the seeds.
We send the cherry to a blender with a little sugar and punch. We transfer the packaged berries to containers, and cups with a lid, and send them to the freezer. A wonderful sauce for porridge, cheesecakes, and pancakes is ready.
How to defrost whole cherries for baking?
We defrost the berries for baking, adhering to just one rule: we take the cherries out of the freezer and put them in the refrigerator overnight. Thus, the berry will defrost correctly and will not lose its taste and shape.
How to use frozen cherries for smoothies?
In the process of freezing pitted cherries and further thawing, the texture of the berries may change. But frozen cherries are still incredibly versatile. I like to use frozen, pitted cherries in morning smoothies, for example, so there’s no need to add ice!
It is also important to know that the berry is not re-frozen, since re-freezing turns the fruit into porridge, and the beneficial properties are lost.
Using cherries in a sauce
Another delicious use of frozen berries is dessert cherry sauce. Transform a simple cake or bowl of vanilla ice cream into an elegant dessert to pair with a thick, glossy cherry sauce.
Since the sauce is cooked on the stovetop, fresh or frozen cherries will work just as well. If you are using frozen cherries, you do not need to thaw them first. Just drop it straight into the pan and follow along with the recipe.
Hope you will get the answer to how to freeze fresh cherries?