Cherry Balsamic Caramel Sauce by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

      

June 10, 2021

Bags of cherries that are now appearing in the markets inspired this sauce. You might think that caramel would be too sweet with the cherries, but when tempered with a bit of balsamic vinegar, the result is a ‘super-delicious’, ‘super-sophisticated’ dessert sauce.

I piled the sauce on the top of a (store-bought) cheesecake and can think of a few other tempting uses: Served with a fresh & soft ‘white-cloud’ angel food cake or with slices of toasted pound cake or simply spooned over vanilla ice cream.

And my advice: If you have not yet made caramelized sugar, watching a few web-posted videos will help you along.

  • Prep: 25 mins
  • Cook: 15 mins
  • Yields: 8-10 topping spoonful’s

Ingredients

1-pound fresh cherries

1 cup granulated white sugar

3-4 tablespoons cold water

Small pinch kosher salt

5 ounces (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) heavy cream 1 1⁄2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

Begin by washing the cherries under cold running water and shaking off the excess water in a strainer/colander. I do the next task of stemming & pitting the cherries in the sink to minimize the squirting cherry juice. I also wear disposable gloves for the task. (And while on the subject: Having a box of disposable gloves at the ready in your kitchen is VERY handy for all sorts of kitchen and food-prep tasks.)

Pit the cherries into a container so you can be sure to catch any juices. Set the cherries aside, do not refrigerate at this point.

Ready to make caramelized sugar and caramel?? Choose a small, stainless steel and heavy-bottomed saucepan. Strain the measured sugar into the pot to remove any lumps. Combine the heavy cream and the balsamic vinegar and set aside. Add 2-3 tablespoons of cold water to the granulated sugar in the pot. Swirl gently to dissolve, don’t stir. (If you are an avid fan of The Great British Baking Show, you probably recall that they do not start their caramelized sugar with any water. It’s just a difference in technique. All the water must be evaporated in order for the sugar to caramelize.)

Set the pot on the stove. Have at the ready a small cup of cold water with a pastry brush. Turn the heat under the pan to medium and begin to simmer the sugar. RESIST the urge to stir, swirl gently if you must. The water will begin to evaporate and the sugar will start to ‘melt’. If crystals of sugar form and cling to the sides of the pan, brush down the crystals using the reserved pastry brush and cold water.

Cook for 5-8 minutes while the sugar syrup starts to turn golden and then ‘caramel’ colored. When the syrup is a light brown caramel, remove pot from the heat and immediately add the heavy cream-vinegar mixture. Stand back, it will bubble furiously. Then swirl the pot to mix. Let cool for 8-10 minutes.

Next, stir in the reserved, prepared cherries. (If the cherry sauce has ‘clumped’ due to the temperature difference between the warm caramel and the cool cherries....do not panic. Just put the combined cherries and caramel sauce back over the heat and re-heat on low and stir gently to loosen the sauce.)

Serve the cherry balsamic caramel sauce at room temperature or refrigerate for later enjoyment.

close full screen
00:00