Homemade Luxardo Cherries (aka Maraschino Cherries) can really elevate a cocktail. They add that special *something*. They're the perfect addition to your home bar and to a cocktail. They are particularly good in an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan!
These cherries are sweet and syrupy, but aren't one-note in any way. They have complex flavors thanks to extracts, maraschino liqueur, and spices. I bet you'll find yourself eating them straight out of the jar.
Looking for more drink garnishes? I got 'em! Try my Sugared Cranberries, Bourbon Cherries, or Dried Orange Slices and add a little pizazz to your drinks!
Jump to:
- 🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 💭 What are Luxardo cherries?
- 💫 What makes Luxardo cherries so special?
- 🍸 What is Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur?
- 📝 Ingredients
- 🍒 What kind of cherries should you use?
- 🔀 Substitutions and Variations
- 👩🏻🍳 How to make Luxardo Cherries
- 🥃 What should you do with these Luxardo cherries?
- 🥫 Can you preserve these cherries?
- 🛠️ What should you make with leftover Luxardo liqueur?
- ❓ Recipe FAQs
- 🔗 More drink garnish recipes
- ✨ Recipe
🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
These cherries taste delicious. They're syrupy and sweet, with complex flavors.
They're the perfect cocktail garnish. Use them in any cocktail that you please!
The recipe makes a lot. This recipe makes a big jar of cherries, so you'll have plenty for all of your drinks.
💭 What are Luxardo cherries?
Luxardo Cherries are the OG fancy cocktail garnish cherries.
I bet you have had Luxardo cherries if you've ever ordered a cocktail and it had a really delicious cherry in it as garnish. Either that or maybe it was a brandied or bourbon cherry. They're all quite good.
💫 What makes Luxardo cherries so special?
I think many of us tend to think about the neon pink/red Maraschino cherries that you buy in the grocery store. These cherries are nothing like those.
So what makes them so different? First of all, they're delicious.
To achieve such a high level of deliciousness, Luxardo cocktail cherries take a bit of a warm bath in, and get their distinctive and delicious flavor from, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur. Plus some other really delicious ingredients, of course.
🍸 What is Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur?
According to an article on Epicurious, Luxardo was once a distillery in present-day Croatia (at the time, the area was an Italian province). The company became famous for its cherry liqueur, called Maraschino (pronounced like "mar-uh-SKEE-no" in Italian), made from marasca cherries.
They distilled the liqueur from ripe marasca cherries (a kind of sour cherry), their crushed pits, branches and leaves, honey, and various other secret ingredients.
In the early 1900s, the distillery started selling selling cherries that were candied in a syrup of marasca cherry juice and sugar. And thus, the OG Luxardo cherry was born.
Following World War II, one of the Luxardo family members fled to the Veneto region of Italy, taking with him a marasca cherry tree sapling and the recipe for Luxardo liqueur. Ever since that time, Luxardo liqueurs and cherries have been made in that region of Italy!
While it does have a cherry flavor, you'll also notice floral, piney, and nutty flavors, too. It's really interesting! The pits of the marasca cherries are responsible for the nutty flavors you'll notice.
📝 Ingredients
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantitites.
- Sugar: I used turbinado sugar (a minimally-processed and refined, chunky, brown sugar), though demerara sugar would work well, too. I like the richer, more caramel-y flavors of this sugar, though you could also use white granulated sugar if that's what you have on hand.
- Tart cherry juice: Luxardo cherries are historically made with marasca cherries, which are a variety of sour cherries. This tart juice provides flavor and also helps to preserve the color of the cherries, as the color can start to leach out of them over time if you use water instead.
- Vanilla extract: A little vanilla helps to round out the flavors.
- Almond extract: I think that almond extract is really key in this recipe. Luxardo cherries have a sweet almond flavor to them, and this extract really adds that.
- Cinnamon: Just one whole cinnamon stick will do.
- Nutmeg: You can use store bought, ground nutmeg or you can grate some fresh nutmeg into the mix.
- Luxardo: Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur is an absolute must in this recipe. It's what makes these cherries Luxardo cherries.
- Cherries: I used fresh sweet red cherries for this recipe. Let's talk about other options below.
🍒 What kind of cherries should you use?
I used regular old dark red sweet cherries that you'll find at just about any grocery store. You can use sour cherries if you want, too! It's really just a matter of personal preference. Several readers have commented that they've used sour cherries, with good results. You do you.
If you want to use frozen cherries, please bear in mind that several readers have reported that while the flavor of these cherries will be the same as if you used fresh fruit, the texture will likely suffer. Folks have reported that using frozen cherries often results in mushy Luxardo cherries.
🔀 Substitutions and Variations
- Use frozen cherries. Readers have reported using frozen cherries instead of fresh. It's a tradeoff between convenience and texture, however. The texture won't be quite the same.
- Use a different kind of cherries. You can use pretty much any variety of cherries that you prefer.
👩🏻🍳 How to make Luxardo Cherries
You'll start out by pitting all of your cherries. This isn't mandatory, but using a cherry pitter makes this process so fast and easy. Some other options for pitting can be found here.
After you have pitted all of your cherries, set them aside.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar, juice, extracts, and spices. Whisk them all together. Bring everything to a simmer and ensure that all of the sugar has completely dissolved.
Once the sugar has dissolved, add the Luxardo liqueur, whisk it to combine, and add the cherries. Bring everything back up to a simmer and allow it to simmer for 10-15 minutes. This will soften the cherries and let the liquid cook down a bit so that it's more syrupy.
After 10-15 minutes, remove and discard the cinnamon stick and allow the cherries and syrup to cool. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge!
🥃 What should you do with these Luxardo cherries?
Personally, I'd recommend plopping them into a strong cocktail. As a bourbon lover, I happen to think that they are particularly good in an Old Fashioned.
If you are looking for a non-boozy drink, you can totally plunk these guys into a Shirley Temple. However, because these maraschino cherries are made with a liqueur, I probably wouldn't recommend serving this to your kids. Maybe make a Dirty Shirley for the adults instead?
Don't tell anyone, but I may also be known for eating them out of the jar.
🥫 Can you preserve these cherries?
I haven't done it personally, but several readers report that these cherries can be canned! Make a bunch, can 'em, and enjoy homemade Luxardo cherries for a long time to come.
🛠️ What should you make with leftover Luxardo liqueur?
Worry no longer! If you have leftovers, please consider making my Cheerwine Sangria. You will not regret it. Or make a classic Last Word cocktail! *chef's kiss*
Or... And just hear me out here... Just make more Luxardo Cherries! They're delicious and great for gift giving. And like I said above, you can can them for later!
❓ Recipe FAQs
I used fresh, sweet red cherries. Use whatever variety of cherry that you prefer. You can even use frozen cherries, though the texture of the cherries won't be quite the same.
I haven't done it, but some readers have said that you can can these cherries in order to preserve them.
As a garnish for cocktails, of course! Use them any time a recipe calls for a cocktail cherry. You can also just pop 'em in your mouth, too.
🔗 More drink garnish recipes
Need more fun drink garnishes? Click on any of the photos below to be taken straight to the recipes!
I'd love to know what you thought of this recipe! Don't forget to leave a comment and ⭐️ star rating below!
✨ Recipe
Homemade Luxardo Cherries
Ingredients
- ½ cup turbinado sugar
- ½ cup tart cherry juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 cup Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
- 1 pound sweet red cherries pitted and stemmed
Instructions
- Combine sugar, cherry juice, vanilla and almond extracts, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a saucepan, and bring it to a simmer. Stir occasionally as the sugar dissolves.
- Add the Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur and whisk to combine. Add the pitted cherries. Stir to coat all of the cherries in the syrup. Simmer for 10-15 minutes to soften the cherries slightly.
- Turn off the heat, discard the cinnamon stick, and allow the cherries to cool. Once cooled, store in the fridge in a tightly sealed jar.
Notes
- Readers have let me know that they've used frozen organic cherries in this recipe (instead of fresh) and that it has turned out well! So when cherries aren't in season, or maybe don't look so great, you can still make this recipe and enjoy!
- Readers have also noted that you can make this with sweet or sour cherries, depending on your preferences.
- Though I haven't done it, readers say that you can can these cherries in order to preserve them.
- One reader mentioned that they felt that the cherries became a little too soft when cooking them for 15 minutes (as recommended in the recipe). An alternate strategy is to simmer the syrup and allow it to thicken before adding the cherries and simmering them for 5 minutes or so (or until they reach your desired texture).
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.
Thomas
Just some FYI: On a jar of Luxardo cherries, it tells you "Do not refrigerate" that refrigeration may cause syrup to crystalize. Tells you to store at room temp in a closed jar.
laurenpacek
Hi, Thomas. While that may be the case for the store bought cherries, I'd definitely recommend storing the homemade ones in the fridge. The syrup will not crystalize.
Tess
I bought a jar of cherries in liquor in Italy thinking they were Luxardo cherries. However, they are not sweet. They've definitely got enough alcohol in them though. Thoughts on how to turn these into something like Luxardo cherries without adding more alcohol?
laurenpacek
Hi, Tess. I've never tried to do this before, so please bear that in mind. However, you could maybe try adding some simple syrup that's been flavored with some of the traditional Luxardo cherry flavors (think vanilla, maybe a tiny bit of almond extract, a cinnamon stick...). That way you're not upping the alcohol content, but getting some more flavor.
Sher
These are not bad - I have made them (substituting cherry juice for the water to retain color), but other than that made the same including the Luxardo liquer. These again are not bad, but taste absolutely nothing like a Luxardo cherry. They do not get that stickiness that you always have in a jar of Luxardo cherries. They charge a fortune for the cherries, but I have yet to find a recipe that even comes close to the flavor and texture of a true Luxardo.
Josh
Followed the recipe as written and made the mistake of not tasting the liqueur before using it. Cherries taste like they were soaked in rose water. Not a taste I enjoy. Wouldn’t do this again. Really not they fault of the recipe but absolutely do not like this flavor and will buy luxardo cherries at the expense of the separate ingredients. Too expensive and imagine wouldn’t be worth the expense had the batch of cherries tasted better.
Karen
Thank you. Easy and fun to make. I added vanilla. Off to make an old fashioned with my delicious cherries.
laurenpacek
So glad you're enjoying them. Vanilla is a good addition. Cheers!
Flo
So excited to try these! I keep buying cherries and forgetting to eat them (since I can never finish the giant bags of cherries they sell in grocery stores) and this will be a perfect use for the remainder of a bag I bought recently! I don't have Luxardo Maraschino on hand, though, and I know they'll still be delicious if I use brandy or bourbon instead, but is there anything I could add to make them taste more similar to Luxardo if I don't have it on hand? I know nothing will make them taste exactly like the true Luxardo cherries without Luxardo (duh), but if I could at least get a little closer I'd like to if it's possible
laurenpacek
Hi, Flo. I'm not sure that I can think of anything that you could sub for the Luxardo that would be close in flavor. However, like you said, brandied or bourbon cherries would be lovely!
Krista
These are delicious! I made a batch with frozen sweet cherries I had leftover from a previous recipe. I decided I wanted a larger batch so I threw in some frozen sour cherries. I decided to mix it up by adding both the Luxardo Maraschino Orignale and the Luxardo Sangue Morlacco (since I had both on hand). To be honest, I preferred the sour cherries but both were amazing. Thanks for sharing.
laurenpacek
I'm so glad that you enjoy them! I'll have to try to get my hands on some of the Sangue Morlacco and give that a try, too.
Linda
I made this recipe and because cherries weren’t in season, I used frozen black cherries. The flavor is exact but the cherries were mushy, not like the real Luxardo, which are more dense. I think I’ll wait for cherries to be in season and try again. I did canned them and they’ve held up beautifully.
laurenpacek
Hi, Linda. Thank you for the update! I'm going to update the post to include what you shared with me. Bummer that the texture of the cherries didn't hold up. I promise that they're worth it when you make it with fresh cherries!
Yusra
I just tried this recipe with frozen sour cherries (replaced the nutmeg with some lemon zest) and it tastes wonderful! Can't wait to put it into my blackforest cake. Thank you 🙂
laurenpacek
Hey there, so glad you liked them!! Putting these cherries into a black forest cake is a genius idea.
John Todd
Hey Lauren, Thanks for this recipe. Can you tell me, with one pound of cherries, what size jar did you use to store them?
laurenpacek
Hey John. I believe that I used a quart jar.
Nancy
This might be a dumb question but.... do you keep the cinnamon stick in the liquid in the jar or remove it before filling the jar? Also... can you substitute ground cinnamon if you don’t have the sticks? Thanks!
laurenpacek
Not a dumb question at all! I remove the cinnamon stick before putting the liquid and cherries in a jar. And I don't see why you couldn't use ground cinnamon for the flavor, although maybe cinnamon would stick to the cherries? Your liquid would also likely be cloudy. If you do use ground cinnamon, I might recommend straining everything through some cheese cloth, to filter out as much of the ground cinnamon as possible.
Carol
I have made this recipe twice now and have canned them both times. I canned using water bath method. I filled the jars with hot cherries and liquid and processed them for 15min. (Pint jars)! They make great gifts for your bourban drinking friends! I personally like that there is extra juice, I use the juice in my drink with a little orange rind and bitters!
Miguel
Hi! Thank you for the recipe! I’ve been looking for a way to reverse engineer Luxardo Cherries. Your recipe was nearly spot on. The only addition I added was the citric acid (a half ounce or 1 oz of lemon). That addition nearly got it!
laurenpacek
I'll have to try it with some lemon juice next time!
rebecca
I was wondering if you can store them in a mason jar in the basement for a while to gather some flavor, or if they have to be in the fridge right away? Thanks!
laurenpacek
If you aren't properly canning them, then I'd definitely recommend stashing them in the fridge. If you decide to can them, they can sit at room temperature.
Laura
Flavor was good but syrup thickness and texture were not quite right.