Yellow Cherries: What are them and how to use them

Red might be the colour most naturally associated with cherries ... but that would be to ignore an even sweeter fruit bowl rival – yellow cherries.

Commonly known as Rainer cherries, we're talking the cream-yellow tinged cherries with a subtle red blush that have a higher level of sun-ripened sugar than some other cherries and deliver an arguably more complex flavour.

In fact, according to cooks info yellow cherries are a whopping one third sweeter than their counterpart red cherries. All that makes the succulent crunch of their yellow flesh even more enticing!

These special cherries are also more thin-skinned and juicy than many of their counterparts, while still being an important source of vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants, and a smaller source of vitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin K, magnesium, copper, manganese, and fibre. They have numerous health benefits as well: studies have shown increased recovery time following exercise, reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease, and even improved sleep health.

Un post condiviso da The Good Hearted Woman (@thegoodheartedwoman) in data: 16 Lug 2017 alle ore 17:19 PDT

Born in the USA

Rainier cherries were developed over 60 years ago when Harold Fogel and other researchers in Washington crossed two red varieties of cherries, the Bing and Van, producing the surprising golden yellow cherry with a red blush and an even sweeter flavour.

The super sweet giant cherry even has its own festival, celebrated every 11 July on National Rainer Cherry Day.

How to Eat Yellow Cherries

If you can hold off eating them fresh from the tree, there's still a whole lot more you can do with these sweet blushed stone fruits in the kitchen.

Yellow cherries lend themselves easily to desserts, just like their red counterparts, in recipes for ice cream, cakes, pies, pastries and tarts.

But they can also be experimented with in savoury cooking. Try pairing them with herbs like basil, citrus, soft creamy cheeses like burrata, or even meat like pork and seafood like scallops.

Check out a huge variety of Rainer cherry recipes here on their dedicated Pinterest page.

If you're in the lucky position of having too many yellow cherries, instead of letting them go to waste try pickled cherries instead.