Fresh Sweet Cherry Sauce

Fresh Sweet Cherry Sauce. An easy one pan sauce, made with fresh cherries and citrus. Delicious warm or cold on top of sweet or savory dishes!

Ingredients

For the sauce:

2 cups pitted sweet cherry halves (about 1 lb.)
5 Tablespoons sugar
zest and juice from one lemon orange or lime are also good!
1/4 cup water
pinch salt
2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Optional additions, see notes:

generous splash of good quality aged balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

Instructions

Place cherries, sugar, lemon zest and juice, water and a pinch of salt into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently for 1-2 minutes. You want to soften the cherries, but not over cook them and break them down. Taste and adjust for more sugar, if desired.
Spoon some of the cherry juice from the pan into a small bowl and whisk it with the cornstarch until the cornstarch fully dissolves.
Pour cornstarch mixture back into the pan and stir it into the cherry mixture. boil for another minute or until thickened.
Serve warm, or allow to cool and store covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Sauce will thicken further upon cooling.
See notes for optional additions.

Recipe Notes

*You can use orange or lime juice and zest instead of the lemon. I actually love it with orange. I just happened to have lemons on hand.

*If you choose to add the balsamic vinegar or the almond extract, stir it in after you remove it from the heat.

*If I'm making this to go over meat, like grilled pork chops, I will add more balsamic vinegar to the mixture. I like to use a good quality aged balsamic. Lesser qualities can be too acidic.

*You can also add almond extract. Use it sparingly so as not to over power the cherry flavor.

*The amount of cornstarch I use varies. For ice cream or savory applications, I use 2 teaspoons because I like a more fluid sauce. If I want a thicker sauce, I'll use 2 1/2 teaspoons or 1 Tablespoon. If you want it to be even thicker, like pie filling, you'll have to add more cornstarch and/or reduce/eliminate the water.

*You can use frozen sweet cherries in place of the fresh.