Summer is in full stride, which means that we are blessed with an abun­dance of local, tree-ripened fruit. That being said, a hot sum­mer day or sul­try evening is also the per­fect time to break out the Amarena Cherries.

Toschi Amarena has been flour­ish­ing in Italy and has devel­oped a loyal fol­low­ing world­wide since 1945. The wild black cher­ries are pre­served in syrup and may be one of the hand­i­est  and ver­sa­tile condi­ments to keep in your fridge. For the kids, mix a lit­tle in your fruit juice the next time you make kool aid pop­si­cles. A table­spoon right out of the jar adds a deli­cious depth and sophis­ti­ca­tion to a bowl of vanilla ice cream, lemon gelato or plain yougurt, and will make a cherry milk­shake like you’ve never tasted.

Make the clas­sic cherry cheese­cake with these gems and you will never go back; a lit­tle goes a long way with these babies, and a few added to a golden plum upside down cake will have your guests stand­ing on their heads.

For the tip­plers in the crowd, put a cherry in a cham­pagne flute and top with your favorite sparkling wine for the clas­sic Amarena Amoremio. Bring a lit­tle Old World into your next Manhattan and save the maraschino cher­ries for your mother’s fruit­cake. On hot sum­mer nights, make your Manhattan in a tall glass, add lots of ice, soda water and gar­nish with a sprig of lemon thyme; the Amaerna cherry will become the apple of your eye.