1. Start with the cherry filling. Wash and pit the cherries or pour the sour cherries from the glass jar into a sieve and collect the liquid from the jar. You will need about 6.8 fl. oz. (200ml) of liquid – top up with cherry juice or water if necessary. Mix some of the liquid with the starch until the starch has dissolved. Add the remaining liquid together with the maple syrup (or xylitol), lemon juice, and vanilla extract to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the starch mixture to the saucepan and let the liquid thicken up while stirring constantly. Add the cherries and mix to combine. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

2. Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Add the water, butter, and salt for the choux pastry to a small saucepan and bring to a boil – the butter should be completely melted. Mix the flour and cornstarch together, then add to the pot in one go and stir until you have a smooth dough that pulls away from the pot. Let the dough “burn off” (without actually burning it) while stirring constantly for about 1-2 minutes. The bottom of the pot should be covered with a white layer – this means everything is going well. Add the dough to a mixing bowl and let cool down for a few minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the bowl and mix them into the dough with dough hooks. Whisk the third egg first, then gradually add it to the bowl – you may not need all of the egg. The dough should be shiny and when pulling up the dough hooks, there should be a dough triangle visible hanging down the dough hooks. Fill the dough into a piping bag with a large star tip and pipe 8 portions of dough – with enough space in between – onto the prepared baking sheet. Spray or brush with some water and bake for 20-23 minutes. Do not open the oven in between or the pastries will deflate. Take out of the oven and let cool down for a moment, then slice open with a sharp knife or scissor to get bottoms and tops/lids. Let cool down completely on a wire rack.

3. Add the cold heavy cream, vanilla extract, confectioners’ sugar (or powdered erythritol), and cream stiffener to a cold bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. Fill into a piping bag with a star tip.

4. To assemble, fill the bottoms of the cooled cream puffs with cherry compote, pipe a good amount of whipped cream on top and place the tops/lids on top. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving (optional).