This recipe was not planned at all. 😊 The microwave-cooked cherries I’m telling you about today were a sudden idea that came to me late at night, very late, just before going to sleep, on one of those extremely hot nights we’ve had recently.

After a nice evening binge of cherries, only a couple of handfuls were left, which I had forgotten to put in the fridge after dinner. When it was time to turn off the light and go to bed, I picked them up with the intention of putting them in the fridge, but in those few steps from the table to the fridge, I thought: they’ve been warm for hours, and what if they don’t last until tomorrow? Come on, I’ll cook them! So I quickly rinsed them, removed the stems, sprinkled them with sugar (very little) and put them in the microwave.

While they were cooking, I took some photos with my phone – all turned out terrible, blurry, dark, out of focus, but it didn’t matter since this wasn’t a recipe I planned to write. The photos are often just a reminder of what I cooked, maybe to recreate later when ‘I have time to do it calmly’. Although in ninety percent of cases, that doesn’t happen, neither repeating the recipe nor, ever!, having calm. 😃

Anyway, after a few minutes, I turned off the microwave and went straight to bed, as I was falling asleep, leaving the cherries there, inside the microwave.

The next morning, I found them in the microwave when I was about to heat the milk for breakfast (“oh right, the cherries!”) and immediately tasted one (“ooooooh how good!! wow!) then I put them in the fridge, where I forgot them again for a couple of days.

That is until I suddenly wanted to make ice cream. 😊

What an idea, folks, I made a delicious ice cream! Flavored with lemon zest, delicious! and at the last moment… hey but darn it! (I didn’t exactly say that, but more or less), but we have the cherries in the fridge!!!! Yes, yes, the microwave-cooked cherries, those that seem syrupy! Oh guys, what do you think, should we put them on the ice cream?

That’s how I decided it was worth writing down the recipe because they were fabulous on the ice cream.

And here they are, my microwave-cooked cherries, which I don’t have the courage to call syrupy, but they do quite well as syrup-like.

As a topping for your ice cream, I’m sure you’ll like them as much as we do!

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Other recipes with cherries? Here they are!

Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Very cheap
Rest time: 2 Hours
Preparation time: 2 Minutes
Cooking methods: Microwave
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer

Ingredients

10.6 oz Cherries (approximate weight, including pits)
2 teaspoons Sugar

Tools

Microwave oven
Baking dish glass

Preparation

Wash the cherries and drain, without drying them.
Remove the stems.
Place them in a wide, shallow microwave-safe container (I used glass).
Sprinkle with sugar.
Turn the microwave on to the maximum power.
After 2 minutes, open the microwave and stir them.
Turn the microwave on again for another 2-3 minutes.
Honestly, I don’t remember if the total minutes were 4 or 5 (I was too sleepy!), but then again, I’m not even sure of the exact weight of the cherries 😀
Turn off and let the container rest inside the microwave until it cools down.
Here are three photos that, although not the best, tell the story of the process:
You will get cherries that are great to eat as is but also ideal to use as a topping for desserts and ice creams.
If you decide to leave the pits in, like I did, please be careful when eating them.
If I had planned the recipe, I would have tried to pit them. I’m not sure if the result after cooking is the same with or without pits. When I make them again, I’ll be sure to update this recipe with new photos and information 🙂
The sugary juice they release is really fantastic on ice cream, for example on this delicious kefir and cream ice cream: