Turn wild cherry pits into porridge!

The flesh of the holly leaf cherry (Prunus ilicifolia) is very thin and worth drying into fruit leather.

 The pit is substantial and includes a nut inside.

I dried the cherries, peeled off the dry flesh to eat, shelled the pits with a rock, pounded the nuts into a meal,

leached under running water

and boiled to remove hydrocyanic acid.  The final product was porridge.

When pounding the meal, I enjoyed a strong fragrance of cherries and almonds.  The porridge has mild flavor and is filling.  I hope to collect a larger amount and process with others.  It is very similar to processing acorns!