Sand Cherry Recipes

A deciduous shrub of varying colored foliage, the sand cherry produces small black cherry fruits in the wild. The tart taste of the fruits mix well with sugary jams, jellies, sauces and a variety of sweet and savory culinary treats. The amount of recipes that can incorporate sand cherries is virtually limitless as the versatile fruit adds a balance of sweet and tangy to any dish it accents.

Cherry-herb Salmon

Cherry, like many other fruits, adds a delightful sweet taste that creates a fusion of flavor with fish and meat dishes. When three cups of sand cherries is boiled down with a gallon of water and two cups of sugar, a deep black-red sauce forms, making an tasty drizzle for grilled, herb-encrusted salmon steaks. A squeeze of lemon juice offers extra tart with the sweet flavors that add well to the taste of the fish.

Beverages

The juice of the sand cherry, although tart, makes for a flavorful addition to any fresh fruit fusion. Mixing sand cherry juice with carrot, orange and blueberry juice blended with ice and milk creates a nutritious and delicious smoothie to start your day with beautifully. Mix it with exotic flavors like banana, papaya, mango, kiwi and ginger to get a quick shot of energy and intense fruit flavor.

Desserts Galore

Sand cherries make delightful additions to a plethora of dessert recipes such as cheesecake, ice cream, pies, cobblers and many more. Making a heavy and sweet syrup of sand cherries only requires water, sugar and a boiler to break the cherries down into a gooey, deep-red sauce. When frozen, the sand cherry syrup makes a refreshing Popsicle, and when heated up it penetrates angel food cake and only needs a dollop of whipped cream for added flavor and texture.

Raise Sand Cherries

Prepare small peat pots by filling them with a rooting mix, stopping 1/2 inch from the rim of the pot. Take cuttings from an adult plant. Trim the bottom of each cutting, close to the nearest leaf node. Strip all leaves from the bottom half. Dip the bottom end of each cutting into rooting hormone powder and immediately plant it to a depth of at least 1 inch. Encase the peat pots in makeshift greenhouses by covering each with a plastic bag. After two weeks, leave plants permanently uncovered. Transplant mature cuttings into the garden, in a sunny location with well-drained soil. Add 2 inches of mulch around the base of each plant, but keep it 2 inches from the crown. Water plants several times each week in the first year, and once each week in subsequent years.