This is my family recipe for a delicious batch of thick and fruity black cherry yoghurts, homemade from scratch in your yoghurt maker. It’s a variation of my Extra-special Thick Fruit Yoghurt recipe.
Growing up, the variety of yoghurts available in supermarkets in the UK was far more limited than you see today. In the standard set of four flavoured yoghurts supermarkets used to sell, one was always black cherry flavour and we would argue over who had to eat it. It was many years into my marriage before I learnt that in my OH’s childhood home, they would argue over who got to eat it! Turns out it’s his favourite flavour, so I’ve been making it for some years now. The good news is that I find this homemade black cherry yoghurt really quite nice too, so if even if you were in the black cherry-avoiding camp like me, I urge you to give this recipe a go.
As with most of my flavoured yoghurt recipes, this recipe ensures you are not left without a natural starter yoghurt for your next batch of yoghurts.
This recipe makes 5 delicious, thick black-cherry yoghurts and one natural yoghurt starter. You will also have some leftover whey which has a variety of uses.
The Black Cherry Focus
Apart from your yoghurt making basics, the key ingredients for this recipe are a cherry-flavoured syrup and black cherry jam.
Cherry Syrup Options
It’s almost impossible in the UK to get hold of a black cherry syrup, so a cherry syrup is what I usually use. If I go on a bit of a hunt I can usually find Lowicz cherry syrup in the Polish section of large supermarkets, or else the excellent La Maison Guiot sirop de cerise griotte is easy to obtain in France if someone I know can bring it back for me. Syrups like this have a long shelf life so can be stashed away for some time. Do read the ingredients carefully on any syrup you are considering, as they vary enormously on fruit juice content, which actual fruit they are made from (I’m looking at you, Lowicz with your black carrot?!?) and whether they include glucose-fructose syrup, for example.
I have wondered about Monin’s Black Forest syrup for these yoghurts, but it’s a ‘no’ for us at that price. I’d probably be disappointed as it barely contains any cherry and chocolate yoghurts (forever known in our house as chocolate abominations) are never a good idea…
If you can’t find cherry syrup, any other red syrup will not be a disaster – a fruits-of-the-forest, blackcurrant or blackberry syrup would all still make a delicious yoghurt.
It is possible to use the juice from a tin of black cherries in syrup, reserving the cherries themselves for inclusion in the yoghurt (see below), but this tends to be thin and lacking in cherry flavour, so can make your yoghurts less rich.
Black Cherry Jam
You will also need 100g of black cherry jam. Obviously there is a wide price vs. quality range for this, so use whatever suits you.
Alternatively, you can also use black cherry pie filling, pictured below. It may be old-fashioned and a bit visually challenging, but the ingredients are straightforward and it works really well for this purpose.
The price at UK supermarkets for the amount of jam you need for one batch of yoghurts from the brands shown here ranges from 114p to 40p with plenty left for other uses. If you use the black cherry pie filling, although cheaper per 100g, you will probably use the whole tin at £1.80.
Black Cherry Yoghurt Recipe
Jump to the brief, printable recipePreparation
Empty your starter yoghurt into a large bowl or jug. 120-150g of natural yoghurt is enough to culture this recipe. Add 1 litre of whole UHT milk to the yoghurt, starting with just a little, and stir really well.
Remember you can’t use fresh milk to make yoghurts like this. For all my tips on the basics of yoghurt-making, please see my core natural yoghurt recipe.
Ladle out one pot of the plain yoghurt mixture, which will be your starter for a future batch of yoghurts.
To the remaining yoghurt mixture, add 45g of cherry syrup and 35g of white sugar. These quantities can be adjusted according to your taste, but the more syrup you add, the less well the yoghurt will set.
Stir the mixture really well until all the sugar has dissolved.
Ladle or pour the flavoured yoghurt mixture into a 1-litre tub suitable for your yoghurt maker. If it comes with a strainer, you should have this fitted.
Place the starter and black cherry yoghurt mixture in your yoghurt maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Fermentation and Straining
Set the fermentation time for 10 hours.
At the end of the fermentation time, cool the yoghurts on the kitchen side for half an hour or so. You can now cover and refrigerate the natural starter yoghurt.
If your tub containing the black cherry yoghurt is fitted with a strainer, you now set it in the straining position (left). If you don’t have a purpose-built strainer, then place a sieve over a bowl, line it with cheesecloth and gently spoon your yoghurt into that (right). (The pictures here show other flavours of yoghurt, but the method is the same.)
Cover and refrigerate for 8-9 hours ideally, but a minimum of four hours.
The timings of this recipe work well if you prepare the mixture in the morning of the day before you want to eat it. Ferment it for the length of the day, then set it to strain that evening, and you will have delicious creamy black cherry yoghurt for lunch or tea the next day.
Alternatively, you can prepare the mixture in the evening of the day before you want to eat it and ferment it overnight. Set it to strain the following morning, and it will be ready for tea that day. You could also have it for lunch, after maybe 4 hours of straining, but will be less thick than if you can leave it for longer. If you are serving more people, this can be a way to make the recipe stretch further.
Finishing
Following a full 8-9 hours of straining you should have around 530g of yoghurt and around 575ml of whey. See my post on what to do with your leftover whey.
Transfer the strained cherry yoghurt into a small bowl.
Add 100g of black cherry jam (or to taste) to the yoghurt and stir gently to combine. Portion the yoghurt out into 5 small glasses or serving dishes.
Rather than mixing it all into the yoghurt, you might like to reserve some jam to create layers in your glasses or to decorate the top of your yoghurt.
If you’re using black cherry pie filling instead of jam, add this to taste – I usually use the whole tin of cherries but leave a fair bit of the sauce behind.
You can also use a whole tin of black cherries in syrup, but don’t add the syrup/juice as it will make the yoghurt watery. Reserve a few cherries to decorate the top of your yoghurts.
You can also use defrosted frozen black cherries. I just eyeball a quantity that looks about right for my family. In this case, you might need to stir in some extra sugar with the cherries (use icing sugar if you have it), or increase the sugar in the yoghurt mixture above, since the fruit are unsweetened. Again, reserve a couple of cherries for the top of each yoghurt.
Cover and refrigerate until serving.
Serving
When it comes to serving these yoghurts, they are perfect as they are, decorated with reserved jam or fruit on the top.
An extra-special flourish is to add a chocolate button or bite-sized chocolate brownie – home-made would be best but here I’ve used bought mini-bites. I have also sometimes put a piece of brownie, or even a slice of chocolate mini-roll in the bottom of the glasses before putting the yoghurt on top.
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For a more economical fruit yoghurt recipe, check out my Every-Day Fruit Yoghurt recipe.
Don’t forget to make some delicious muffins with your leftover whey!
Black Cherry Yoghurt Printable Recipe
If you make this yoghurt I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
Black Cherry Yoghurt
Equipment
- yoghurt maker
- yoghurt-making tub with strainer or
- sieve and cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 120-150 g full-fat natural yoghurt
- 1 litre whole UHT milk see Notes
- 45 g cherry syrup
- 35 g white sugar
- 100 g black cherry jam
Instructions
Day One (Morning)
- Empty your starter yoghurt into a large bowl or jug.
- Add the milk to the yoghurt, starting with just a little, and stir really well.
- Ladle out one pot of the plain yoghurt mixture, which will be a starter for a future batch of yoghurts.
- To the remaining yoghurt mixture, add the fruit syrup and sugar.
- Stir the mixture really well until all the sugar has dissolved.
- Ladle or pour the flavoured yoghurt mixture into a 1-litre tub suitable for your yoghurt maker, with a strainer fitted if it has one.
- Place the plain starter yoghurt and flavoured yoghurt in your yoghurt maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Set the fermentation time for 10 hours.
Day One (Evening)
- At the end of the fermentation time, cool the yoghurts on the kitchen side for half an hour.
- Cover and refrigerate the plain starter yoghurt.
- Strain the fruit-flavoured yoghurt by setting your tub in the straining position or by gently spooning the yoghurt into a cheesecloth-lined sieve over a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Day Two (Morning)
- Transfer the strained cherry yoghurt into a small bowl.
- Add the black cherry jam to the yoghurt and stir the mixture gently to combine.
- Distribute the yoghurt between 5 small glasses or serving dishes.
- Cover and refrigerate until serving.
Notes
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