No. 3425 — Little Russian Cherry Nalivka
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 3425 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Prepare boards with raised edges and arrange fully ripe stemmed cherries with their stem openings upward so the juice does not run out.
Place the boards in an oven with only gentle residual heat, so the cherries wilt and wrinkle slightly but do not dry. Cool and fill a prepared barrel or large bottle, shaking the bottle or rolling the barrel to fit more fruit.
When full, add as much of the best purified vodka as fits and leave in a cool cellar, not directly on ice, for ten days.
Drain the first infusion into a separate bottle. Cover the cherries with vodka again and let infuse for two weeks; drain.
Cover the cherries a third time with vodka and let stand for seven weeks. Combine all three infusions and sweeten to taste with ¼–¾ pound sugar per bottle.
Cork, seal with resin and store in the cellar.