Need answer fast! 
Last week, we went to Johnny Carino’s and had the 2 dine for 19.99 deal. The dessert I had was the NY Cheesecake with Amarena cherries. They only gave me 2 though. After the first bite, I wanted a whole goblet full. I need to know what brand they use so I can have them in bulk. There are a few different brands online and they are quite expensive for what I would normally pay for such an item. I don’t want to have to experiment around.
Help! I need these cherries!
I think Toschi is the most common brand, but I personally find them kind of underwhelming. If I were you, I’d do the following:
Get an empty peanut butter jar or the equivalent.
Go to your local Whole Foods or equivalent and get a bag of high-quality frozen dark cherries.
Go to your local liquor mart and get a bottle of decent brandy (the cheap stuff from Remy Martin is fine) and a bottle of maraschino (cherry liqueur; I use Stock brand but there are other brands that are generally regarded as better, such as Maraska or Luxardo)
Put as many of the cherries in the empty jar as will fit.
Fill the remaining space in the jar with equal parts brandy and maraschino.
Stick the jar in your fridge for a few days.
Fish the cherries out and use them in cocktails or on desserts. When you’re done with the first batch, re-fill the jar with more cherries (there should still be a bunch of liquid in it), then top off the booze.
Repeat as necessary.
How many different ways can I say “can I come over?”
I hadn’t the foggiest clue what Amarena Cherries were when I came in to this thread…but by god, I’d love to find out.
Thanks for the suggestion HH. I’ll try that at some point. I was really hoping to find out what brand I ate the other night. I guess experimenting may be the answer. (Yes, I know I could ask them at JC’s, but where’s the fun in that?)
I did find this recipe: http://www.massrecipes.com/recipes/04/11/amarenacherryandpistachio260751.html for Amarena Cherry Pistachio cake that with a little method modification could be pretty easy to make. No way I’m doing a jelly roll just to cut it up and put in a bowl. But is sounds delish!
Jeez, that’s also calling for Alkermes? Good luck finding that. Alkermes is an ancestor of Campari, and is really fabulous stuff. But to the best of my knowledge, it’s available in the US in one store in NYC and one store in LA.
Regarding the cherries, I think Fabbri is the other major brand, so it’s about 95% likely that the cherries you had were either Toschi or Fabbri. I haven’t tried the ones from Fabbri, so I don’t know how they compare.
Regarding my recipe, I should note that Stock brand maraschino is milder and sweeter than the other brands I mentioned, so if used one of those you might want to increase the proportion of brandy and maybe add a little sugar. Similarly, if you want to go for the real sugar-bomb effect you get from amarena cherries, you might want to add a little sugar to the jar.
It is optional, but I found a recipe for the Alkermes online too. I’m betting a little amaretto or a dash of marachino would work well too.
OK, I just picked up a jar of the Fabbri amarena cherries. They’re definitely better than the Toschi, but I’d still recommend the recipe I posted upthread.