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Sour cherries
Twin cherries on a stalk, coated in sharp sour sugar, are a familiar pick and mix sweet. But two sour cherries can be made in very different ways. Here is what goes into them, what makes them sour, and what to check for diet and allergies.
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Sour cherries are cherry shaped sweets, sometimes moulded as a pair of cherries joined at the stalk, and coated in sugar sharpened with acid. Several sweet makers produce them, and the recipes can differ a great deal, as two examples show.
Two recipes, side by side
CandyKing Sour Cherries. CandyKing, a pick and mix supplier, lists sugar, glucose syrup, wheat starch, water, modified starch, lactic, malic and citric acids and sodium malates, flavouring, sodium carbonates, and spirulina, safflower and black carrot concentrates for colour. It describes them as vegan, gelatine free and palm oil free, with 58 g of sugar per 100 g.
Haribo Sour Cherries. The retailer ToffeeWorld lists glucose syrup, sugar, gelatine, dextrose, citric and malic acids, flavourings, fruit and plant concentrates including apple, aronia, blackcurrant, elderberry, grape, kiwi, nettle and spinach, invert sugar syrup and carob extract. It describes them as twin cherries about 5 cm by 4 cm, with about 58 g of sugar per 100 g.
What makes them sour
The sharpness comes from food acids, mixed into the sweet or tumbled over the outside with sugar. Malic acid, found naturally in apples, tastes sourer than citric acid: see what is malic acid in sweets? and how are sour sweets made?
Acids draw in moisture, which can make a sour coating wet and sticky. Partly neutralised acids, such as the sodium malates in CandyKing's recipe, are one way makers keep the coating dry. For why sourness makes your mouth pucker, see why do sour sweets make your mouth pucker?
Diet and allergies
- Gelatine. Haribo's version contains gelatine, so it is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans. CandyKing's is set with starch instead.
- Wheat. CandyKing's contains wheat starch, so it is not suitable for anyone who must avoid wheat: see wheat in sweets
- Shared scoops. CandyKing itself warns that the scoops at a pick and mix counter are used in different boxes, so allergens can move between them: see pick and mix and allergies
In our pick and mix
We sell 
Sour Cherries by the 100 g. Recipes differ between makers, so the card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the sour cherries we actually stock.
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
Are sour cherries vegan?
It depends on the maker. CandyKing's Sour Cherries are vegan and gelatine free, set with starch. Haribo's Sour Cherries contain gelatine, so they are not suitable for vegetarians or vegans.
Do sour cherries contain gluten?
Some do. CandyKing's Sour Cherries are made with wheat starch. Check the allergens for the ones you are buying, especially from a pick and mix counter.
What makes sour cherries sour?
Food acids. The recipes here use malic and citric acid, and CandyKing's also uses lactic acid and sodium malates, partly neutralised acids that help keep a sour coating from turning sticky.
Sources
- Sour cherries, product page, CandyKing
- Haribo sour cherries, product listing, ToffeeWorld
- Malic acid, Wikipedia
Keep reading
- How it is madeHow are sour sweets made?Sour sweets get acid inside and out: citric or malic acid can be mixed into the sweet, and sour coated ones are tumbled in sugar mixed with acid crystals.
- Questions people askWhy do sour sweets make your mouth pucker?Sour sweets are coated in acids. Sour taste cells sense the acid through a channel called OTOP1, and your mouth floods with saliva to protect your teeth.
- Questions people askWhat is malic acid in sweets?Malic acid, E296, is the acid of apples and rhubarb. It is sourer than citric acid, so it goes into very sour sweets, some of which warn it can sting.
- History and originsThe history of sour sweetsAcid drops go back to Victorian London. Sour Patch Kids began as Mars Men in the 1970s, and 1990s Warheads turned sourness into a playground dare.
- Diet, allergens and labelsWheat in sweetsWheat turns up in liquorice, wafer bars and malted centres, while wheat glucose syrup is exempt from gluten labelling. How to spot wheat and gluten.
- Diet, allergens and labelsPick and mix and allergiesLoose sweets bring extra allergy risks, from shared scoops to sweets side by side. What sellers must tell you, and the questions to ask before you buy.