Glyko Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet)
Glyko kerassi (Cherry preserve), is one of the best traditional fruit preserves, called "spoon sweets or glyko tou koutaliou", which can be served alone or used in many other desserts.
Cherries have a remarkably short growing season and in Greece this period is between June and end of July.
In Cyprus I remember we could eat cherries, as early as May but by June they were gone.
There are a few types of cherries, such as wild cherries, Bind, Lambert, Rainier, Royal Ann and Sour Cherries. In Greece we don't have so many.
During the beginning of the cherry season they are quite expensive, around 6 Euros a kilo and now that the season is almost over, they are about that price again.
When I went to the farmers’ market a few weeks ago and found some cheap cherries, I could not resist buying some to make some Glyko Kerassi (cherry preserve), which in Greece we call a spoon sweet.
It doesn’t matter if the skin is read, dark red or the creamy yellowish red. The most important element is that the cherry must be big and firm.
Making Glyko Kerassi
The most difficult part of the procedure is pitting the cherries but I use a small manual cherry pitter which makes the procedure much easier than the way my mother used to pit them, using a hair clip.
It's a little bit more harder but it's a good solution, so I decided to make this video after pitting 2 kilos of cherries to show you how. Sorry the video is not professional but it's a kind of "selfie video" as I didn't have anyone to help me with the video but I think you can get the idea.
As I wrote in other spoon sweets before making any spoon sweet it is better to put them in pickling lime as this makes the end result to have a spoon sweet firm and crispy but if you make it without using it, it is still delicious but a bit wrinkled and soft.
This preserve was made without picking lime.
The traditional ingredient for flavouring spoon sweets is with fragrant geranium leaves (pelargonium graveolens) and I love this aroma. If you cannot find any, you can substitute it with vanilla or add a piece of cinnamon stick in the syrup.
Update: June, 2009
This year I made the spoon sweet with pickling lime and used a different variety of cherries.
Update: 2012
The previous years I had nothing new to add. This year however, I added 5 geranium leaves (again using 2 kilos cherries) and five minutes before it was ready I added ½ cup of honey.
The cherries were nice and crunchy but the syrup was divine. The honey certainly added to the flavour of the syrup but the addition of more pelargonium leaves added amazing aroma to the syrup.
Serve alone, or as a topping on Greek yogurt, panna cotta, ice cream, cheesecakes, Crêpes or pancakes, puddings or other desserts.
The syrup is also ideal to wet sponge cakes or to make fruit compotes.
If you like liqueurs you can use the pips to make a Cherry liqueur.
Glyko Kerassi (Cherry Preserve)
Glyko kerassi (Cherry preserve) also called "glyko tou koutaliou", is one of the best traditional fruit preserves, which can be served alone or used in many other desserts.
Ingredients
- 2 kilos cherries
- ½ cup water
- 2 kilos sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- Extra lemon juice (3 tbsp)
- 2 - 3 fragrant geranium leaves (or 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence)
- (½ cup of pickling lime dissolved in 2 litres of water) optional (see next recipe)
Instructions
- Wash the cherries well. Remove the stems and pits using a pit remover.
- Place cherries in a pot and cover with cold water and the lemon juice and leave it for an hour.
- Drain them and reserve the water.
- Place them back in the pot, covering each layer with sugar and part of the water, until all the cherries and all the sugar have been used, and leave them overnight or until the sugar dissolves.
- The following day bring the cherries and sugar to a boil over high heat. Skim off foam as it rises to the top with a slotted ladle.
- Lower heat and simmer for about 1 hour, until the syrup thickens Add the 3 spoonfuls of lemon juice and geranium leaves or vanilla or cinnamon and allow to boil for another few seconds. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely.
- Place in sterilized airtight glass jars to and store in a dark closet.
- Alternatively, after step 5, bring to a boil, lower heat and using a thermometre the preserve is ready when the temperature reaches 105 degrees C. At this stage, add the lemon juice and turn off the heat.
Nutrition Information
Yield 2 kilos Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 2568Total Fat 2gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 0mgSodium 12mgCarbohydrates 661gFiber 21gSugar 627gProtein 11g
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Fruit Preserves (Glyka tou Koutaliou)
Fruit preserves, called "glyka tou koutaliou", served in little plates, are an inherent part of Greek culture, where they are offered to guests, as an act of hospitality. Almost any fruit, even vegetables, flowers and nuts can be made into a preserve.
Here is a selection of my favourite fruit preserves.
Glyko Karydaki - Fresh Walnuts Preserved in Syrup
Karydaki, which means young walnut, is one of the best Greek traditional spoon sweets.  The preserve is made with unripe green walnuts at the end of Spring.
Chestnut Preserve (Glyko Kastano) and Marrons Glacés
Chestnut Preserve (candied chestnuts) or Marrons Glacés, are a wonderful winter treat and a perfect gift during Christmas or other occasions.
Glyka tou koutaliou (Greek Spoon Sweets)
Preserve your fruit, vegetables or nuts! See how to make fruit preserves with these tips and recipes.
How to fix Spoiled Fruit Preserves
If your fruit preserves or jams have mildew or if the sugar has crystalized, don't throw them away as these can be easily fixed.
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,
What a pity you forgot to pick more figs!!!! I love them so much :D. The cherries must have been the sweetest thing on hearth!
Wanna party and have a drink? Come over my place, please!
Thanks Nuria, I had a great time over your place. Have a nice time.
It's great to see how the cherries are made...it was always one of my favourites in Greece. Better luck with the figs next time!
Oh, no, you forgot the figs? I just bought some today's at the farmers' market-- I'd be happy to share. 🙂
And those cherries are lovely. I guess they're heart-breakingly short season is so we'll appreciate them even more.
Your cherries look delicious, but I can't believe you forgot the figs! You must have been so sad!
Ivy, I used to eat this cherry spoon sweets all the time as a kid and you just made me crave it SO BADLY again! Yummy! It's been too long since I've eaten something like this.
Your cherries look delicious, and I'm not even fond of cherries!
Those cherries are SOOO gorgeous! I think you did them proud.
Your spoon sweets look delightful once again Ivy. Ilike the idea of a hair clip as an improvised cherry pitter. I'd be scared of the cicada too!
Peter, thanks. I'm not giving up on those figs. I still have time to make them an who knows I might make another trip to Sparta soon.
Susan, you are right. If we had them for a long period we would be sick of eating them as is the case with other delicious fruit, e.g. strawberries we had them for more than four months.
Jenn, I can't believe it either. How could I have forgotten them.
Elly, I bet your mom or grandma put some on top of some custard cream. I made some cream last night and put the picture specially for you.
Corinne, when it is really hot you hear million of them having a symphony, even here in Athens, where trees are scarce. However, that was the closest look I had at one before.
Thanks Emiline.
Cake, people are very resourceful when they want to do something badly and believe me it was a better method as the cherries resembled intact. They would not push the cherry out and make a hole on both sides but would pull it out.
You have so much great info here about making spoon sweets, Ivy. When I get back I'll have to read it all. Sour cherry spoon sweets are my favorites, but I don't have a source for sour cherries so I've been buying them ready made. Too bad I can't trade you some figs for cherries! Good luck getting back to that fig tree. 🙂
Well that insect made me cringe as well....sorry for the loss of figs...the spooned cherry thing looks like a keeper....:)
Sour cherries are great but have not made them this year. The method is exactly the same. Maybe next year.
Hi bhags and thanks for visiting. Hope to see you again.
Me too afraid of all insects... 😉 it was a big one ....:)
Cherries look perfect!!!