Life is a Bowl of Cherries

Photo © Rob Jones

Six thousand years of Glacé Cherry history in 30 seconds.

There’s evidence cherries were enjoyed in Europe as long ago as 4000 BC.

They’ve been grown commercially since the Middle Ages - especially in France.

People used to ‘glacé’ them to preserve them.

None other than Nostradamus published a method of preservation of charries in 1555.

In 1600 a French agricultural specialist called Olivier de Serres said:

“There are two things to remember when preserving fruit in sugar: prepare the fruit well, so it is ready to receive the sugar, and prepare the sugar well, so it can easily permeate the fruit. Without this interaction, candying will not be successful.”

(Totally by the way, his brother Jean translated the works of Plato, and was allegedly poisoned. They had another brother called Ray, who didn’t contribute much to society.)

Anyway…

Candying fruit replaces the natural water content with sugar.

In 1868 a French businessman was so enthralled by them on a visit to Provence that he decided to import them and sell them far and wide.

The rise of picnics in Victorian times increased the demand for fruitcake, containing said cherries.

So.. without camping, Glacé Cherries would not have become popular in the UK. Who knew?

Circa 1968

At home there was always a tub of them in the cupboard… until we kids ate them of course. Not in vast quantities though as they really are excessively sweet. They were more a fascination.

So, I saw them in the local shop this week and bought some. Then I struggled to find something to do with them that didn’t involve putting a Bakewell Tart underneath them. However…. I found this:

Cherry Shortbread

340g Plain Flour
227g Butter
120g  Castor sugar + extra for dusting
85g Chopped glace cherries
Half a teaspoon of Vanilla Extract.
Pinch of Salt.

Rub together the ingredients, form into palm size balls. Squash onto a greased baking tray and cook for about 15 mins. Keep checking so they don’t burn.

Eat.

RJ