If you are going to swirl the cherry caramel sauce in your ice cream, you should make it 3-4 hours prior to the ice cream so that it can completely chill in the refrigerator.
Pit 1½ cups of cherries. Place in a food processor or blender to puree. The skins of the cherries should be completely pureed with the fruit. If you see bits of the skin, strain the puree to remove.
Pour one cup of granulated sugar in a medium saucepan with ¼ cup of water. Let the water saturate the sugar but don't stir. You do not want the sugar on the interior walls of the saucepan. It can lead to the crystallization of the caramel.
With the heat on medium, let the sugar gradually start to melt. As the sugar water comes to a boil, you will notice big bubbles on the surface. These bubbles will become more viscous as the water evaporates.
After about 13 minutes, you will see the syrup start to turn brown in color. You can swirl the pan to distribute the caramelized syrup. The process starts to speed up - you will see the color change quickly. Have the cherry puree nearby. Caramel waits for no one.
Once the syrup is amber in color, add the cherry puree. Make sure you aren't looking too closely at the interior of the pan. There will be a lot of steam rising as the cherry puree is added. Also, the puree will be boiling profusely as it hits the hot caramel.
Because the cherry puree is cold compared to the syrup, the caramel will seize and turn hard. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula until everything is melted and the sauce has come together, 2-3 minutes. The longer you cook the sauce, the thicker it will become. But don't let it boil too long. It will no longer be pourable.
Pour sauce into another container to cool. Once it is room temperature, put the cherry caramel in the refrigerator to chill for 3 hours. You can also put the loaf pan in the freezer to chill.