Noyaux (Almond Extract from Cherry Pits)

Several months ago when I was up to my elbows in cherries, I came across a recipe that was mind blowing for me. It was for Noyaux (pronounced Noy-you). Noyaux is the French word meaning “stones” and is referring to the little kernel inside the pit of stone fruit such as cherry, peach and apricot.

It turns out that these stone fruits are related to almonds, that makes perefect sense because I noticed so many cherry desserts are flavored with almond extract: black cherry ice cream, maraschino cherries, etc…In the past when fruit was canned with the pits intact it would flavor the fruit with an almond taste.

So one early summer evening after pitting a giant bowl of cherries I sat under the grape arbor on our large marble table in the dusk of the evening cracking open cherry pits. At first it was very strange, I mean, isn’t it strange enough to pick your own cherries, pit them then make pie from them? But cracking open cherry pits? That might be going a little far…but I got into a rhythm. I placed the little slimy pits still wet from the cherry pulp on a couple of layers of paper towels. I lined them up like little soldiers in battle formation, then covered them up with another paper towel. Then WHACK WHACK WHACK went the hammer in my steady hand. It was quite satisfying hearing the sound of a direct blow when it split the cherry pit open in one strike. More frustrating when I missed and sent the cherry pit soaring into the warm summer night. Soon I had to pick through the spoils of my battlefield retrieving the delicate little kernels from the carnage of their broken tiny shells. One by one I plucked up the kernels and placed them into a bottle. Soon enough I had a sufficient amount to make my Noyaux. I poured vodka over the kernels and placed a stopper in my bottle.

Noyaux (Almond extract from cherry pits)

The next step is to wait for the infusion to take place, a couple of weeks will do, a couple of months are better. How many kernels to vodka? Hard to say. Just make sure you have covered the kernels with the vodka and a little more.

Now before you mock me for having taken on such a frivolous undertaking as cracking open cherry pits, let me ask you, is an evening spent watching “Dancing With The Stars” a better use of time than an evening under the stars bonding with our food source? I will take the later, especially now after having reaped the benefit of my beautiful fragrant voyaux as it infused my Homemade Cannolis with its delicate almond perfume. Ahhhhh, those French, they think of everything and waste nothing.