Fancy Pantry: Cherry Rose Compote

Use the coming cherry season to make this perfect floral-scented compote.

This is the brand new start of a series I’m calling Fancy Pantry (taken from an old cookbook I have from the 80s by the same name).

Since moving to the country and far from a grocery store, I’ve had to get much better at cooking from the pantry and freezer. In this series, I’ll share my favorite staples that I make and keep on hand.

These are things you can keep in your fridge, freezer, cupboard or pantry. Use them to dress up simple meals, from oatmeal to a pot of beans, and you’ll never run out of delicious things to eat.

Cherry rose compote with greek yogurt and my favorite homemade granola

This week, as I pawed through our garage freezer, I discovered a bag of cherries I’d frozen late last spring.

It was the first year that our tree produced more fruit than the birds could steal away. At first, we weren’t sure how to harvest it all without a cherry picker. We stared up into the branches and saw bright red globes 20 feet in the air.

Kenn suggested he lift me up in the tractor bucket, but I am a chicken in most matters of personal safety. Luckily, we had friends visiting who were not so timid, and so up our friend Tom went to gather bags and bags of cherries for me to pickle, can, and freeze.

Somehow, this last bag had migrated to the back of the freezer and escaped me. Since cherry season will soon be upon us again, I thought it best to use them up and make this wonderful cherry compote. The hint of rose makes it taste like spring, but you can leave it out if you don’t like floral flavors.

It’s very easy to make once your cherries are pitted. Alternately, you can use purchased frozen cherries for this.

Ingredients

1 lb pitted sweet cherries
Juice from 1 lemon
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp rosewater

Directions

Place all ingredients except rosewater in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Lower the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, until it becomes syrupy and slightly thickened.

Turn off the heat and stir in the rosewater. Ladle into a jar to cool (or serve warm).

In a jar in the refrigerator, it should keep for a few weeks. You can also freeze it. I guess it should last a few months, but obviously I like to live a little dangerously when it comes to freezer longevity.

It’s delicious on greek yogurt, vanilla ice cream with a little chopped dark chocolate, or spooned over oatmeal dusted with some freshly ground cardamom.

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