Cherries

Cherries can be sweet or sour, making them a very versatile fruit for cooking, baking, or eating fresh.

Sweet cherries have a high sugar content and low acidity, so they are best when eaten fresh. They tend to be light yellow to dark red, with soft flesh. Lighter cherries tend to have a milder sweetness than black cherries.

Sour cherries have a lower sugar content than sweet, and are best used in desserts, jams, jellies, and sauces, or can be dried. Due to their natural acidity, they are not often eaten fresh. They tend to be a brilliant red in colour.

Varieties:

  • Hedelfingen
  • Vista
  • Viva
  • Vega
  • Vogue
  • Vicount
  • Van
  • Bing
  • Vandelay
  • Tehranivee
  • Montmorency

Nutrition

Sour cherries are a source of vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, manganese, and copper.

Sweet cherries are a source of vitamin C, antioxidants, and even melatonin!

Selecting

Look for brightly coloured, supple cherries, with their stalks will attached.

Avoid any containers with crushed cherries, the juice can spoil the other fruit around them.

Storing

Refrigerate for preservation as well as flavour. Cherries can be refrigerated for 3 to 4 days.

Keep them dry.

To freeze cherries, remove the pit, and pack in dry sugar (1:4 ratio sugar to cherries).

Cooking

Wash cherries well before serving with cool water.

Remove the stalks, and if using a large number, use a cherry stoner to pit them.

How to Pit a Cherry

Recipes

cherries
Seasonal Availability
June and July

Nutrition per 10 sweet cherries (68 g):

Nutrient Value
Calories 43
Protein 1 g
Carbohydrates 11 g
Total Sugar 9 g
Total Dietary Fibre 1.4 g
Calcium 9 mg
Iron 0.2 mg
Potassium 151 mg
Magnesium 7 mg
Vitamin C 5 mg

Provided by Health Canada