#morello cherry

Cherry Winks are a classic Christmas cookie filled with plump cherries (hence the name!), dates, and chopped nuts. These cookies are butter free and feature a fun ingredient: Corn Flake Cereal. This cherry winks cookie recipe features a few updated ingredients (morello cherries) differing from the original (from published in the 1950’s). Photo Credit: The Sifted Field. These crunchy on the…

Food And Drink in Lisbon (No. 2)

Ginjinha or simply Ginja, is a Portuguese liqueur made by infusing ginja berries (sour cherry, Prunus cerasus austera, the Morello cherry) in alcohol (aguardente) and adding sugar together with other ingredients, with cloves and/or cinnamon sticks being the most common. Ginjinha is served in a shot form with a piece of the fruit in the bottom of the cup. It is a favourite liqueur of many Portuguese and a typical drink in Lisbon, Alcobaça, Óbidos, Marvão, Covilhã and Algarve. The Serra da Estrela ginja, centered around Covilhã, has protected designation of origin.

The Ginjinha of the Praça de São Domingos in Lisbon was the first establishment in that city to commercialize the drink that gives its name to it. A Galician friar of the Church of Santo António, Francisco Espinheira, had the experience of leaving ginja berries in aguardente, adding sugar, water and cinnamon. The success was immediate and Ginjinha became the typical drink of Lisbon. In the 2000s, the business was in the hands of the fifth generation. Around 150,000 litres of Ginjinha are produced each year, around 90% is consumed in Portugal and only around 10% is exported, the majority of it to the United States. The traditional liqueur is served all around Portugal, but is especially prominent in the Oeste and Lisbon regions.

Morello Cherry Tree (Prunus cerasus ‘Morello’)

Black Forest Cupcakes – A Cupcake a Day in May

It’s the second to last weekend in May, and I’m finding myself challenging my baking skills more and more as the days go by – so today I’ve gone all Masterchef, with my re-mixed take on Black Forest Cupcakes. Black Forest Cupcakes People have been gently mentioning Black Forest Cupcakes all month, and I’m a huge fan of cherries, so it seemed like a great idea to do them. On the other hand, as a…