Our 20 Best Cherry Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated May 30, 2019
Credit: Christopher Testani
These fantastic, sweet-and-savory cherry recipes include a grilled cherry-vanilla clafoutis, cherry-berry pie, and flaky gateau basque.
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Cherry-Vanilla Clafoutis

Credit: Victor Protasio
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Baking Cherry-Vanilla Clafoutis on the grill lends a delicious and unexpected smokiness to the simple French dessert, while whole-wheat flour provides a nutty kick to this otherwise-classic recipe.

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Fresh Cherries with Spring Onions and Cilantro

Credit: Photo © Cedric Angeles
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Bright, fresh and exceptionally simple, this five-ingredient salad from chef Zakary Pelaccio is a perfect way to highlight super-sweet cherries

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Gâteau Basque

Credit: Quentin Bacon
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There are many versions of this exquisite tart from the Pays Basque region of France. Daniel Boulud created his with pastry chef Eric Bertoïa: A flaky crust surrounds a pastry cream dotted with brandied cherries.

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Porch Crawler

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Chef-partners Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo and their friend Travis Kauffman concocted this terrifically refreshing cooler one hot summer night with ingredients from Falcinelli’s rooftop garden.

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Black Cherry Iced Tea

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Serve this refreshing tea over ice, garnished with mint sprigs.

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Beet, Pickled Cherry and Crispy Shallot Salad

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Moroccans often start a big meal with several small salads, including one with marinated beets. Mourad Lahlou combines roasted beets with mizuna to create the large salad here.

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Sour Cherry Turnovers

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Small, juicy, ruby-red sour cherries are excellent for baking because, unlike sweet cherries, they retain their shape as they cook.

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Cherry Lambic Crisps

Credit: HECTOR SANCHEZ
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Chef Phillip Kirschen-Clark uses beer in everything from cocktails to desserts. Kriek—lambic beer fermented with cherries—intensifies the fruit flavors in these crisps.

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Cherries Poached in Red Wine with Mascarpone Cream

Credit: Ben Dearnley
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Thick mascarpone cheese mixed with honey makes a luscious topping for poached cherries. You can serve the dessert either warm or cold. We love it both ways.

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Cherry-Nut Mudslides

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Here is the chocolate lovers’ cookie: a deeply rich, moist cookie speckled with hazelnuts, pistachios and dried cherries.

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Sour-Cherry Lambic Sorbet

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“Above all, sorbet should taste—and feel—almost like eating fresh fruit,” says ice cream maven Jeni Britton Bauer.

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Cherry-Berry Pie

Credit: Tina Rupp
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Pastry chef Paula Haney buys produce at the farmer’s market, including the cherries for her stellar pies.

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Dried Cherry Compote with Shortbread and Mascarpone

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Sugary desserts often overwhelm dry reds like Bordeaux, but this dish is so subtly sweet it almost doubles as a cheese course. The mascarpone’s creaminess smooths out the wine’s tannins; the compote and shortbread echo its hints of cherry and anise.

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Sweet Noodle Kugel with Dried Cherries

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Noodle kugel is a traditional Jewish recipe served for dessert or as a side dish. Although it’s made with cottage cheese, it develops a custardy texture as it bakes slowly in a ceramic dish. Here, Grace Parisi uses corn flakes and pecans to make a crunchy topping.

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Syrah-Braised Lamb with Olives, Cherries and Endives

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Rajat Parr braises succulent lamb shoulder in Syrah, then adds kalamata olives and dried sour cherries that he’s soaked in red wine. The unusual combination makes the sauce deliciously sweet and savory.

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Chilled Sour Cherry Soup with Fennel & Sour Cream

Traditional Hungarian chilled sour cherry soup is sweet enough to be a dessert. Nicolaus Balla blends fennel into his more savory version and serves the beautiful pink soup as a first course. “Fennel might be my favorite vegetable,” he says.

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Cherry Clafoutis

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“In France, there’s almond flour in everything—except clafoutis,” Belinda Leong says about the rustic dessert of fruit baked in batter. Bucking tradition, she includes the flour in her clafoutis to add texture to the custardy interior.

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Grilled-Fruit Bruschetta with Honey Mascarpone

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This knife-and-fork dessert from Bottega pastry chef Michael Glissman is a fantastic showcase for seasonal fruit at its peak; caramelizing the fruit on the grill intensifies its flavor. The grilled bread served alongside soaks up the sweet juices.

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Colorado Cooler

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Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey is a distinctive small-batch whiskey made in Denver from 100 percent malted barley. The flavor is malty and slightly vanilla-y.

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Cherry Gazpacho

Credit: Christopher Testani
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This truly delicious gazpacho is inspired by Andalusian chef Dani García, who includes sweet cherries in the mix, then tops the summery soup with shaved goat cheese “snow.”

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