No joke, peeps, I had never baked with sour cherries before making this sour cherries with marzipan crumble. Nor had I ever even purchased sour cherries. My mistake, is all I’ll say.
They are the tart, tiny, slightly squishy, and lighter hued cousin of the sweet cherry. They are super easy to de-pit, due to their above mentioned squishiness, and I’ve read they keep their shape better after baking than their sweet brethren. And, if experience serves, that seems about right.
They certainly bake up with a more fluorescent red than any cherry I’ve ever baked with, and their flavor is incomparable: tart and bright and almost acidic — a friend described the baked cherries in this crisp as the best Jolly Rancher she’d ever tasted. And that’s a compliment in my book. 
Finally, if you can no longer find sour cherries, sweet ones would be lovely here. You can just go ahead and sub them cup for cup. This recipe is super easy and super forgiving.
[yumprint-recipe id=’140′]
