With every trip to the grocery store over the last few weeks, we’ve picked up a big bag of cherries with 2-3 new recipes in mind. And then I don’t make any of them. Because there’s nothing wrong with standing at your kitchen island with a bag of cherries and a Diet Coke and calling it lunch.

Except that there’s no tequila.

And you know how much I love tequila.

Cherries are the It Fruit at the moment. My favorite way to “cook” with a seasonal It Fruit is to make a cocktail. So we blended those beautiful, fresh cherries with the magical ingredients that make margaritas and, not so surprisingly, we got a magical cherry margarita. It’s slightly sweet, a striking shade of red, and perfectly refreshing.

Magical.

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Cherry Margaritas

Make the most of cherry season with margaritas made with fresh cherries, lime, and tequila.

Ingredients

• For the homemade margarita mix:
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tbsp sugar (or the equivalent in your favorite sweetener)
• For the margarita:
• Homemade margarita mix (above)
• 24 cherries
• 3 oz tequila
• 2 oz orange liqueur
• 2 oz blackberry liqueur (optional)

Instructions

1. Stir together sugar and water over medium heat, just until the sugar has completely disolved and the mixture is clear.
2. Stir in lime juice and pour into a blender.
3. Pit cherries and place in the blender.
4. Add tequila, orange liqueur, and blackberry liqueur, if using. (I find the blackberry liqueur really punches up the "dark berries" flavor. Omit if you don't have a reason to keep a big bottle of blackberry liqueur around. I do.)
5. Blend 15-20 seconds and pour through a fine sieve into a pitcher.
6. Use a rubber spatula to work the mixture around, getting as much of the liquid out as possible.
7. Pour the strained margarita over ice and enjoy.

Notes

Yields: 2 drinks

Adapted from Fine Cooking via Annie's Eats

Estimated time: 15 minutes