What do you do when you’ve bought 6 kgs of fresh cherries wholesale? Well, just about everything you can!
Last week I picked up a delivery of 3 x 2 kg boxes of the freshest, plumpest, juiciest cherries I’ve ever come across. I’d ordered them online from local supplier Cherry Time and these beauts make supermarket (mostly imported) cherries look positively anorexic. At R 150 per 2 kg box (yes, you read that right) you should hurry up and order before the season comes to an end in December!
I’ve already made spiced pickled cherries and cherries preserved in vodka, cherry and apple pie, eaten vast quantities fresh and concocted a cherry sauce for roast duck. What next?
This morning I blitzed up a cup of stoned cherries with a cup of Sir Fruit’s The Berries and 5 nice, plump strawberries. Once liquidized, in went a dash of fresh lime juice, a cupful of soda water and boom! Cherry Berry Bang was created!
Cherries have been prized for centuries for their cleansing and detoxifying properties. The juice helps remove excess fluids and toxins, aids and assists the kidneys and is super high in anti-oxidants. A tea made from the stems is a very good diuretic and especially helpful against cystitis and urinary tract infections. Cherries cleanse the gut, relieving constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. It is also a known remedy for rheumatism and gout, as it removes excess acidity from joints and muscles.
Strawberries freshen the breath and aid against high blood pressure. They help cleanse the blood and clear the skin, settle irritated digestive systems and are also useful for dry coughs and week respiratory systems.
Besides all this, a Cherry Berry Bang is damn delicious, so don’t deprive yourself of one!
CHERRY BERRY BANG
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 cup pitted fresh cherries
1 cup Sir Fruit The Berries juice (alternatively use Sir Fruit cranberry, pomegranate or strawberry juice)
5 large fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped up
juice of half a lime
1 cup (250 ml) sparkling mineral or soda water
Method:
- Liquidise the cherries, strawberries and juice together until smooth. Stir in the juice of half a lime, add the soda water or sparkling mineral water and serve immediately.
