Chelan Cherries Are The Type You Need For A Totally Sweet Snack

If you're looking for the perfectly sweet addition to your summer salads, try grabbing some Chelan cherries. These fruits are a little bit more sugary than other cherry varieties, making them a deliciously refreshing snack on a warm day.

Chelan cherries grow as the standard heart-shaped fruit up to a medium or large size. Their outer skin is a deep, mahogany red color — a little darker than the other cherries you may be used to seeing at the grocery store. Inside, these cherries are a little firmer than other varieties, making for a satisfying bite with each one. Additionally, the juice of these cherries is ultra-sweet and contains around 17-18% sugar.

Chelan cherries are also some of the earliest varieties to ripen once they've grown. The variety grows early in the cherry season and can be harvested as early as mid-June — just in time for some sweet summertime snacking.

The Chelan cherry is actually a hybrid between two different types of cherries: Stella and Beaulieu. The fruit was created in Washington and is named for the town in which it was developed. These cherries are still grown in the Pacific Northwest region as well as in Canada and Australia.

Back in the 1990s, quite a few Chelan cherry trees were infected with prune dwarf virus. This virus can cause lower fruit-growth yields and can be spread through pollen and seeds. Fortunately, the variety has made a comeback, and today's Chelan cherry trees are resistant to a few different cherry-tree diseases. 

As an added bonus, Chelan cherries are more resistant to cracking than other cherry varieties. Cracking can happen when the water pressure on the cherry fruit splits open the exterior skin, exposing the inner fruit. Thanks to the Chelan cherry's resistance, it has a little bit longer shelf life than other varieties.

The Chelan cherry can be a great variety to grow both at home and on a farm. In fact, the trees do well in various climates, as long as they get plenty of sunshine. Each tree produces a large quantity of fruit during harvest time — some up to 20 pounds. Certain trees may need assistance getting rid of the high amount of fruit that grows on them, so that the branches aren't weighed down too heavily.

These sweet cherries can also be swapped into your favorite recipes. Since Chelan cherries have a sweeter flavor than other varieties, you may want to cut down on the added sugar in your favorite cherry lattice pie recipe to accommodate the flavor. You could also can the cherries to save for future recipes or cook them down for use in a jam or cherry sauce that goes on ice cream and cakes. Or, of course, you could simply pit and enjoy them as a sweet snack all on their own.