In order to be able to process cherries into cakes and the like, the pits often have to be removed. But what's the best way to do it?
Whether jam, cake or dessert - cherries can be used to conjure up all kinds of delicacies in the kitchen in no time at all. But before the bright red fruit can be processed, it has to be pitted. Especially when the cherries end up on cakes or tarts, they should still look attractive after pitting. With these tricks, you can pit the cherries in no time.
Bottle and chopsticks ensure easy and quick coring
If the cherry should remain as whole as possible and still look appetizing, a bottle and chopsticks are the ideal tools. It is important that the bottle has a narrow neck and is not too big. The procedure is quite simple:
- place the bottle on a towel or a piece of kitchen paper on the table
- put each cherry individually on the neck of the bottle and hold it carefully with two fingers
- Use a chopstick to press the pit from the top of the cherry into the bottle
With a little practice, this method is very quick. Only a small hole remains in the cherry. The fruit itself remains whole. If you don't have a chopstick at hand, you can use a straw, for example.
Remove the stone with a knife
If the cherries are not used for the pie or cake, but are used in the jam, a sharp knife is a good idea. The procedure is relatively simple, but unfortunately the cherry has to be cut in half to do this. It is important that the knife is as sharp and small as possible so that the fruit is not damaged too much.
First the cherry is halved, then the cherry pit can be carefully removed with a knife or finger. Coring is easiest with a knife, but it's also the most messy method.
Tip: A sharp knife isn't just for pitting cherries. This method is also suitable for other stone fruit such as plums. You can also be sure that there are no maggots in cherriesor other fruit.
Hair pin ensures easy release of the cherry pit
This trick is decades old and has already been used enthusiastically by many grandparents in the kitchen. The cherry stones can be easily pulled out of the cherries with a hairpin. For this purpose, a small tool must first be made from the hairpin. For this, the bent end of the hairpin is inserted into a cork. The other end now serves as a handle with which the cherry pit can be pulled out. The cork makes the hairpin easier to grip.
This method also requires a little practice, but then it's relatively quick. So that the cherries are not destroyed, they are best frozen briefly beforehand. This gives you more stability. Then they can be processed as usual.
Cherry stoner convinces as a practical tool
It doesn't matter whether you use a hairpin, chopsticks or knife: If you want to pit large quantities of cherries and process them further, you will quickly reach your limits here, because all three methods take quite a long time. Buying a cherry pitter is worthwhile for processing larger quantities. With this, removing the cores is comparatively quick, clean and easy. Again, each cherry must be placed individually in the stoner. Now this is carefully pressed together. A metal spike pushes the pit out of the fruit. As with the chopstick and bottle method, leave the cherry whole. Here too, however, each cherry must be placed individually in the stoner.
Coring with the Thermomix
If you have your own Thermomix in your kitchen, you can also use it to pit the cherries. This method is quite fast and within a few seconds larger quantities can be cored easily. The disadvantage here, too, is that the fruits are severely damaged. They are no longer suitable as a decoration for a cake. However, if a fruit insert or jam is to be cooked from it, this method is highly recommended and very time-saving.
How it works:
- put the washed cherries into the Thermomix without the stalks
- Set counterclockwise and reduce the cherries to level 4 for a few minutes
- Separate fruit pulp and seeds with a sieve