About this soft-dried shpanka cherry
Shpanka is a duke cherry, a natural cross between sour and sweet cherry grown across Armenia and the Caucasus for generations. It carries the depth and acidity of a sour cherry with enough sugar of its own that none needs to be added.
These are soft-dried rather than fully dehydrated. The fruit is taken down to a higher residual moisture, so it stays supple and yielding instead of brittle — closer to a fresh cherry in texture, with the flavour concentrated behind it. Deep burgundy, glossy, sharply sweet.
No sugar or syrup is added. Sulphur dioxide (E220) is used as a preservative during drying. Contains sulphites. The sweetness is the fruit’s own, and the acidity is what keeps it from cloying.
Eat them by the handful, fold them into porridge or a grain salad, bake them with dark chocolate or almond, or drop a few into a braise the way you would a prune.
