What's On My Plate » cherries

Cherry Coffee Cake

Tonya — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:19:08 +0000

Recently my dear friend Jaime invited me to go cherry picking in her grandmother’s yard. Since I a.) love cherries and b.) love opportunities to channel my inner Nicole Richie circa “The Simple Life” I was eager to join. Having never picked cherries in my life it didn’t really occur to me how this event would go down. Basically the moral of the story is that a.) cherry trees have A LOT of cherries on them and b.) we need to give props to migrant workers, fruit picking is tedious. In the end I wound up with a pretty hefty sack of cherries – I’m thinking about 5 lbs of them if not more! I started searching some of my favourite sites for ideas of what I could use them for. Of course I thought of pies and jams but I wanted something quicker and quirkier. Then I saw the recipe below for a cherry coffee cake. I don’t typically eat coffee cake (for no reason at all) and I’m not too up on my coffee cake varieties but cherry coffee cake sounded pretty delicious.

The cake was beyond easy to make. AND I got to use my stand mixer which thrills me to bits! My only complaint was that I could have easily used more cherries than specified in the recipe. I was expecting chock full of cherries but in the end it was more like a sprinkling of cherries. Regardless this cake did not last long in the house because it was so good. It ended up being really moist with a great crumb. It made the perfect breakfast if you ask me.

Now that raspberry season is coming into full swing I’m seriously considering trying some other berry coffee cakes…

Sour Cherry Coffee Cake (adapted from Martha Stewart Living, July 2009)

For the topping:

* 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for dish
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dish
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cake:

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup buttermilk
* 2 cups fresh sour cherries, pitted

Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-inch round baking dish, dust with flour, tap out excess.

In a medium bowl, stir together butter, flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon. Set topping aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Working in alternating batches, add flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat until just combined. Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with an offset spatula. Dot top with cherries, and sprinkle with crumb topping.

Bake until golden and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool before cutting.

Article taken from Lottie + Doof

Cherry-Frangipane Galette

Tonya — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:07:03 +0000

So this is what I made with my cherries! I cracked open my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook and flipped through for various cherry recipes. I liked the idea of the Frangipane Galette. First of all, it has the best name! It just sounds magical. Secondly, it didn’t seem that complicated. And thirdly (can you say thirdly?) it’s a Martha recipe and I’ve always had a spot in my heart for her…

I pretty much loved this recipe. I loved it even more since it was made with cherries from one of my besties’ cherry trees. It’s like love in every bite.

You can’t tell from the picture but the cherries are sitting atop a delightful custard type filling. It’s not too sweet but just sweet enough to balance out the tartness of the cherries.

The recipe makes a huge tart or two smaller ones. I went for one big one. If I were making this again I would figure out a way to freeze one of the tarts… it was just too much and I was sad to have to throw some away. I’m thinking this recipe would work equally well with a mixed berry situation… just saying.

Cherry Frangipane Galette
(adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)

2/3 cup almond meal (or grind your own blanched almonds)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1 – 18 ounce package of store bought puff pastry (has 2 sheets)
2 pounds fresh sweet cherries (weigh then remove stems and pits)

Egg wash:
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp heavy cream or milk

To sprinkle over the top:
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 425F. Combine almond meal, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Mix in the butter then the egg until mixture is smooth.

On a sheet of parchment paper, roll out each sheet of puff pastry to about 1/8-inch thick keeping a squareish shape. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk and heavy cream and brush over the surface. Fold up the edges to create a 1-inch edge (you can just fold it or crimp it). Prick dough all over with a fork (but don’t prick the edges). Transfer parchment and pastry to a large baking sheet. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.

Spread half the almond filling in an even layer on each piece of chilled pastry. Arrange the cherries in a single layer over the almond filling. Freeze for another 15 minutes.

Bake the galettes for 15 minutes at 425F. Sprinkle the 1 tbsp granulated sugar over the galettes and continue to bake until the edges are golden brown, about 5-10 minutes. Transfer the galettes (with the parchment) to cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(Recipe transcription bored from Alpineberry)

What I Bought: Cherry/Olive Pitter

Tonya — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:00:52 +0000

The other day I was visiting with some friends from the beginning of time when I was offered a ton of cherries fresh from their tree. I’m all for local produce and I couldn’t help but think how much more local could I get than St. Clair and Oakwood? I figured I would make some sort of baked treat because eating that many cherries on their own seemed kind of obscene. Then it hit me, I would have to pit all of the cherries.

I.Freaked.Out.

I knew there had to be a better way so I started searching. There were some makeshift tips involving paperclips, skewers etc. but they all sounded like there could be a potential for disaster and not a guaranteed outcome. Not what I was looking for. I decided to check out my fave Toronto home/gadget store, Kitchen Stuff Plus and lo and behold I discovered a tool for pitting cherries.

It’s by OXO and costs $12. I usually have a rule about NOT buying kitchen tools that only have one use. The package for the cherry pitter says that you can use it for olives too…problem solved!

Let me just say ths product is great! I plowed through a whole bowl of cherries in minutes. It’s really easy to use… as easy as a stapler and the results are fantastic. The pit comes out cleanly and there is minimal waste so you get maximum cherry goodness.

My post about what I made with said cherries to come in a few days…