It’s a happy time of year when cherries are back in season. I’ve loved eating cherries for as long as I can remember. But now that I live in Washington, I love them EVEN more. Because Washington state has the best cherries. Hands down.
I’ve been wanting to go cherry picking since I moved to Washington, and this past weekend I finally had that chance. Happy dance. So now I’ve got a big ‘ole bucket of cherries that need consuming. First world problems.
Because it’s 90 million degrees in Seattle this week, I’ve had ice cream on my mind. Although, honestly it could be negative 90 million degrees and I would still be thinking about ice cream. So I decided that Cherry Floats were worthy of my precious haul of cherries (although I’ve still barely made a dent!).
All you do is make a simple syrup with your cherries. Then mix it with vanilla ice cream and lemon-lime soda. You’ll be gleefully sipping away in no time!
Cheers,
Liz
Ingredients
- For the Cherry Syrup
- 2 cup cherries, stems and pits removed
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- For the Cherry Floats
- Cherry Syrup
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Lemon-lime soda
Instructions
- Make the cherry syrup. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cherries, sugar and water. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the cherries have started to soften and break down. Remove from the heat and let the cherries steep in the simple syrup for about an hour. Strain the simple syrup through a fine mesh sieve, collecting the liquid into a clean bowl. Push down on the cherry solids to get out as much of the liquid as possible. Discard the cherry solids. You should have about 2 cups of cherry syrup. The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Make the Cherry Floats. The amounts here are a guideline for making a single float in a large glass. Pour about 1/4 cup of the cherry syrup into the glass. Add 2-3 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Slowly pour the lemon-lime soda (about 1 cup) over the ice cream until it reaches the top of the glass. Serve immediately with a straw and a spoon.
