Awesome! Balaton looks to be later than the cherry I have already, too :) And it would be really cool, because my father took me to Lake Balaton for my birthday one year (we lived in Hungary then)! More suggestions or warnings are still appreciated, though, y'all. I want at least one tall cherry that will probably do well here. I know cherries aren't the easiest fruit, but they are my favorites and cost a lot at the store for how much I eat. I already have Crimson Jewel (but is it too hot here, really?) and Kansas Sweet (haven't heard a whole lot about it). They both grow well in my yard, but I won't know about fruiting for a long while.

They will have to be pre-cooked at some point to blanch and so make them safe for canning to stop the enzyme action and to soften them a bit. That is the reason for the "boil for 1 min." part of the NCHFP recipe - blanching. In that 1 min. of boiling time you aren't going to lose all that much juice, if any. Think of it like making jam only with jam the fruit gets cooked in with the rest of the ingredients. Here the fruit only gets that 1 min. Dave

My dh' favorite dessert is cherry pie, and I have made dozens of pies in the 22 years we've been together--high school sweethearts. Fresh sour cherries are difficult to find and also very expensive. Even frozen sour cherries are scarce. We lived in the Detroit area for a few years and even then it was difficult to find pie cherries. We were young newlyweds, so it wasn't possible to afford to stock up on cherries for more than a couple of pies. We were fortunate enough to have a few friends who introduced us to Trader Joes and Zingermanns. Then we moved to Chicago and discovered Richard Walker's Pancake House in Crystal Lake. We fell in love with the Montmorrency cherry Belgian waffles. A friend mentioned that Trader Joe's Monchello cherries were similar and made a wonderful waffle and crepes topping. I then tried making a pie filling with them, which my dh loved. I agree with those that say tapioca makes the best thickener. My key for the best filling is cooking it on the stovetop to ensure the correct thickness and flavour. I take the filling off the stove when it's still a bit too runny because it will continue to cook in the oven. I've also made pies with sweet cherries-- fresh and frozen. I add a bit more lemon for tartness and less sugar. I'm not a fan of a lot of almond extract. A few drops of real almond extract in the lemon juice for making filling with sweet cherries gives it a little j'en n'aise pas although I prefer a little splash of Amaretto in all my pie fillings if possible.

We had some very old cherry trees part of my Grandfather's orchard . As a kid I would climb into one of these huge standard trees and eat cherries . These were earlier than the Montmorency my other Grandmother had . I finally concluded they were early Richmond many years later . About equal on taste . I will let you know how Danube tastes . Getting a blush on some now .