Sour Cherry Tart with Streusel Topping - Away A While Recipe Favorites

Sour Cherry Tart with Streusel Topping

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The highlight of Bob's birthday celebration was a parade of his favorite pies. The first, of course, was the blueberry icebox pie featured here a day or so ago. Today, I want to highlight a sour cherry pie. It's one of the best pies I've ever tasted and it was a regular feature in the summer kitchens of my Midwestern childhood. Bob's family lived about a mile from my own and we were exposed to many of the same foods as children. We both love this dessert and share memories of pitting cherries for the pie. We are of an age when it was not unusual to see children sitting on stoops helping to prepare fruit or vegetables for the dinner table. That means we shelled peas and learned to string beans at a very young age. We also had impressive paring knife skills. For a long period of time, folks my age reveled in the development of frozen food and thought that Clarence Birdseye deserved a special place in heaven for his part in making food preparation so much easier than it had been. The grand irony is that we have come full circle and are now back to shelling peas and stringing beans for our tables. To make this pie you are going to need frozen tart or sour cherries that have been pitted. If you opt to use fresh cherries make sure you weigh them after pitting to assure the proportions in the recipe remain the same. I'd also suggest adding an extra tablespoon of tapioca because they will release more liquid as they cook. You will need enough pastry to form a one crust pie. While a homemade short crust is ideal, a commercial product will also work well. This is an easy pie to make and the streusel topping makes it a bit unusual. The recipe can be found here.

                    

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Lemon and Sour Cherry Tea Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I've had a bag of dried cherries in my pantry for several months now and this morning I decided that it was time to use them. The question was how. Scones came to mind, as did a sauce I like to use for roast pork. I briefly considered cookies, but decided to take a pass because of the calories involved. I finally decide to use them in a coffeecake that I hoped could be frozen for Thanksgiving breakfast. I found a recipe for a sour cream cake on Epicurious that I decided to adapt. It work out nicely, but I found the texture of the cake to be more like a pound cake than something I would serve for breakfast. While the cake would not work for breakfast, at least here, it would be perfect for an afternoon tea or evening snack. The cake is very easy to make and I know that those of you who like lemon desserts will really enjoy it, especially if you are beginning to overdose on pumpkin and apple treats.. I do hope you'll give this recipe a try. Here's how the cake is made.

Lemon and Sour Cherry Tea Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Gourmet magazine

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups dried sour cherries
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 cup sour cream
Glaze
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease 16-cup tube pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper and dust pan with flour. Tap out excess flour. Set aside.
2) Place dried cherries in a bowl and cover with hot tap water to rehydrate. Soak for 10 minutes. drain and set aside.
3) Sift flour, baking soda and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl at medium speed until fluffy. Gradually add sugar and beat 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until combined after each addition. Beat in lemon juice and peel. Using a rubber spatula, mix in dry ingredients, then mix in sour cream. Gently fold in cherries Transfer batter to prepared pan.
4) Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Cut around cake in pan. Turn out cake.
5) Carefully turn cake right side up on rack and cool completely.
6) To make glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and zest in a small bowl. Mix with until smooth. Drizzle over cooled. Yield: 12 servings.

One Year Ago Today: Butterscotch Budino

Two Years Ago Today: Cheese Straws

Three Years Ago Today: Sugar Crusted Viennese Nut Bread

Oatmeal Cookies with Cherries and Chocolate Chips

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I just sent a batch of these cookies down the hill to the teens who are taste testers for some of the recipes I feature here. I owed them a treat. They really like this particular cookie, and I know from what their mother reports, that the cookies disappear if not kept under lock and key. I like that the boys like my cooking, but the Silver Fox keeps my ego in check. He points out the boys this age will eat anything that is not green or frozen solid and I must admit there's more than a modicum of truth in that. Their tastes are not yet discriminating and they are very easy to please. I suspect they like these cookies because they are man sized and packed with flavor. Years ago, my own children labeled treats such as these kitchen sink cookies because every thing but the sink went into their making. In truth, these are nothing more than oatmeal cookies with attitude. The original recipe came from Bon Appetit magazine and the cookies are a personal favorite of editor, Barbara Fairchild. They are very easy to make and while they lack finesse, they are delicious. Teens, younger children and the occasional errant adult love them. If you haven't yet tried them, I hope you'll give them a test tun. Here's the recipe.


Oatmeal Cookies with Cherries and Chocolate Chips...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Bon Appetit magazine

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Directions:
1) Position 1 rack in center and 1 rack in top third of oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line 2 heavy large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until well blended. Mix in egg and both extracts. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, then chocolate chips, cherries, and almonds.
2) Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies 12 minutes. Reverse baking sheets, top to bottom and front to back, and continue to bake cookies until golden, about 6 minutes longer. Cool cookies on baking sheets (cookies will firm as they cool). Yield: 2 dozen cookies.









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