Cherry spoon sweet (Κομπόστα κεράσι)

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Cherry spoon sweet (Κομπόστα κεράσι)

A classic Greek dessert that is sweet and simple; a perfect way to sweeten your day!

We cannot begin to tell you how excited we are to share this recipe.  Last year, our dear friend Maria popped by for a visit and brought with her a jar of cherry spoon sweet or kobosta that her mom, Κυρία Βασιλική (Mrs. Vasiliki), had made.  Anyone who is either Greek, or has invited a Greek into their home, knows that it is rare for us to arrive at someone else’s house empty-handed.   It’s not that gifts are required but when they do arrive they are appreciated, especially when they are as delicious as this cherry dessert.  Having already tried some of Κυρία Βασιλική’s creations, we knew that we were in for a treat, but nothing prepared us for the happiness found in that jar.

Cherry spoon sweet (Κομπόστα κεράσι)

When we asked Maria if she thought her mom would be interested in being featured on More Kouppes the response was an enthusiastic yes!  And no wonder! Κυρία Βασιλική is an amazing cook and baker who is generous with her wisdom and skill.  One of us was meeting her for the first time during this More Kouppes event, but by the time we had pitted our second cherry we were all old friends.  She is just that kind of lady.

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Along with learning about different types of cherries, when to get the best cherries at the best price, we also learned quite a bit about Κυρία Βασιλική herself…and it was all fascinating.  Κυρία Βασιλική was born in Mytilini, Lesvos (like our other featured More Kouppes star Κυρία Βασιλία).  This was the beautiful place where her family settled after her grandfather swam there to safety, escaping war and oppression.

Κυρία Βασιλική attributes her love of cooking to her mother, who was an incredible cook.  She spoke about her mother making dolmades filled with rice, nuts and raisins, all sorts of hortopites and all manner of desserts.  She remembers learning to cook as young as 8 years old, spending hours in the kitchen, taking in all that she could.  It was clearly this time spent learning from her mother, and her love of being in the kitchen, which helped make her the wonderful cook that she is today.

Although life in Mytilini was good, like so many others she was seeking a better life and so at the age of 17 she moved to Canada with one of her sisters.  She immediately began working in the textile industry and a few years later, at the age of 19, she returned to Greece and married her older brother’s best friend.  After the marriage the newlyweds returned to Canada and settled in Montreal for good.  Here they continued to work hard and raised a son and daughter.

In hearing Κυρία Βασιλική speak about her family one can easily understand how it is that her children, adults now, have led such interesting and accomplished lives.  Her son has experienced living, working and travelling in several foreign countries and is now an importer of Greek wines.  Her daughter is a musician, opera singer and a wonderful music teacher, including being some of our daughters piano teacher. Κυρία Βασιλική went on to speak with pride about her grandchildren, and the fact that she is even a young great-grandmother!  She laughed and explained that this is what can happen when you get married at 19.  In speaking about raising children Κυρία Βασιλική emphasized, while pitting cherries,  that children need to be given wings, and confidence to take chances.  As parents, our role is to provide them with strong roots and a foundation of love and support, so that no matter how far they fly and how high they leap, they will always have a connection to who they are and a soft place to land.  We realized at this point that getting the cherry kobosta recipe from Κυρία Βασιλική was really only a bonus.

Cherry spoon sweet (Κομπόστα κεράσι)

This recipe and the techniques which follow are the result of years of trial and error, with many attempts resulting in cherries that had boiled down to nothing, a syrup which was too runny, or a flavor which was either too sweet, or not sweet enough.  Κυρία Βασιλική is confident that she has now perfected her recipe, and we couldn’t agree more. We are sure that you will too.

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Pitting cherries... Cherry pitter is a great idea!
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Helpful hints

A great cherry kobosta starts with great cherries.   In Montreal it is difficult to find sour cherries (visina or βύσινα in Greek), which are common in Greece and serve as the base for many cherry spoon sweets.  So, Κυρία Βασιλική uses sweet cherries for her kobosta, and it is delicious. When shopping for the fruit she advised us to look for the largest cherries we could find.

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Your cherry kobosta will have to sit, covered, for 24 hours.  It is important to place a paper towel under the lid in order to have it absorb the excess moisture which will be released.  Check your paper towel periodically and change it as it becomes saturated.

Let it sit for 24 hours

A key element to making this recipe correctly is ensuring that the syrup is at the right consistency.  The best way to do this is to place a tablespoon worth on a dish and move it around.  It should be thick enough that it coats the plate and slowly moves as you tilt the dish.  If it is too runny, you will need to boil it longer (without the cherries in the pot) until you reach the proper consistency.

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Testing how liquidy the syrup is.

When you are filling your jars try to be careful that you get plenty of cherries in there. The last thing you would want would be to have a jar full of syrup with only a few cherries.

Once your jars are filled, if you find that you have syrup left over, keep it.  This makes a great sauce to pour over dessert and can even be added to a fresh lemonade as a sweetener and to enhance the flavour.

If you do not want to preserve your cherry kobosta, you can simply place the finished product in clean jars and keep them in the refrigerator.

We were advised by Κυρία Βασιλική to let the kobosta sit for at least a month before opening up a jar.  The flavour develops during this time, the cherries plump up even more, and the whole experience of eating this cherry spoon sweet is that much more amazing.  She seems to know what she is talking about, so we would take her advice here too! 🙂

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Cherry spoon sweet (Κομπόστα κεράσι)

There are so many ways to enjoy this cherry spoon sweet, and one of them is straight out of the jar.  If you would like to be more civilized, then you can place a tablespoon or two on a pretty glass plate and serve it with coffee or water. The glass plate is not a requirement of course, although growing up this was always how spoon sweets were served.  This cherry spoon sweet is also delicious over ice cream or plain yogourt.

Cherry spoon sweet (Κομπόστα κεράσι)

We have described how to preserve the cherry spoon sweet in the actual recipe below.  For more information on how to preserve your cherry kobosta you can consult this short article by clicking here and also this great article written by Amy Bronee which was featured on the Food Bloggers of Canada website.

Cherry spoon sweet (Κομπόστα κεράσι)

Looking for some more sweet things? How about these?

Quince spoon sweet

Spoon sweet vanilla with ouzo

Diples

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Cherry spoon sweet (Κομπόστα κεράσι)

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7 responses to “Cherry spoon sweet (Κομπόστα κεράσι)”

  1. ajeanneinthekitchen Avatar

    I have a bunch of cherries right nkw. Hmmmmmmm.

    1. miakouppa Avatar

      Do it! 😄😄 Trust us, you’ll be happy you did 🙂

  2. Megala Avatar

    Looks so delish ! Thanks for sharing the detailed recipe covering almost every aspect.

    1. miakouppa Avatar

      Thanks so much!! We tried to be as accurate as possible to do the recipe justice! So glad you appreciate it 😄😄😄

  3. […] have chosen to top this delicious custard with even more deliciousness, in the form of the cherry spoon sweet we made with Κυρία Βασιλική (Mrs. Vasiliki) during one of our More Kouppes events.  If you haven’t already made this amazing cherry […]

  4. Despina Kambanis Avatar
    Despina Kambanis

    an old neighbour used to make the spoon cherry preserve with almonds. Does anyone have a recipe for that?

    1. miakouppa Avatar

      Hi Despina. There are so many variations of spoon sweets…all delicious 🙂 We actually make a quince spoon sweet which has slivered almonds in it. You’ll find that recipe on the blog as well. It’s one of our favourites!

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