[herscht]

I want to make a Black Forest Cheesecake in which the recipe calls for kirsch cherry brandy. Only one teaspoon.

I live in Pennsylvania and with the liquor control board here, it can be very difficult to find certain spirits and in this case I have to order a minimun of three bottles. I thought that was a bit expensive for a teaspoon.

Does the kirsch cherry brandy really make that much of a difference or is substitution acceptable?

[m brown]

You can sub regular brandy for the kirsh.
If you don't like kirsh or brandy, then you could sub a bit of vanilla ext in it's place.
kirsh does not taste like cherries, more like a perfume of cherry blossoms, so cherry flavor or extract is NOT the same thing.

cheers~

[foodpump]

Kirsch is cherry brandy. Well, it's classified as an eau de vie, or a fruit brandy.

Brandy = destilled wine. (literally "burnt wine) Kirsch is made from a wine made from fermented cherries and then destilled in a pot still. It is not sweet, do not confuse it with a cordial or liquer, Cherry Heering, or any like that.

[m brown]

Like we said, very perfumey- not sweet- you could use regular brandy or none at all.