Sour Cherry Syrup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

6 1/2 lbs fresh sour cherries, stemmed and pitted or 4 1/2 lbs pitted unsweetened frozen sour cherries
11 cups sugar
5 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup fresh lime juice (from about 6 limes)

Preparation

Puree the cherries in a blender or food processor in small batches. Run juice through a fine sieve, pressing hard to extract all the juice.
In a large saucepan, mix cherry juice with sugar, water and lime juice and bring to a boil, stirring consistently, until sugar dissolves.
Cook over moderate heat for 10 minutes, skimming off the foam that rises to the top with a slotted spoon.
Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring and skimming, until syrupy, about 1 hour.
Strain the syrup into jars and let cool completely before storing.