There are two main types of cherries -- tart or sour cherries and sweet cherries. Sour cherries, generally the Montmorency variety, are small, bright red in colour and too sour to eat raw. Sweet cherries (best known is the Bing variety) are larger than sour cherries and are deep red to burgundy in colour. The deeper the colour, the sweeter the taste.

The sour and sweet varieties are interchangeable in these cherry recipes, with sour cherries requiring additional sugar. Frozen cherries can also be used, but remember that most frozen sour cherries contain added sugar so no extra sugar needs to be added when substituting for sweet cherries.