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Posts Tagged ‘Cherries’
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
Despite our hot and humid weather, I recently found myself in the mood to bake. I had about a quarter of a bag of cherries in the fridge and I knew I wanted to incorporate them into some kind of cake. I was thinking about making something with cherries and cream cheese, like cherry cheesecake cupcakes or cherry and cheese Danishes. Fate had other plans for me though. My visions of cherries and cheese were quickly altered when I opened the fridge to take out the cherries. There in the back of the fridge was a lonely (and kind-of sorry-looking) avocado.
 Now, there are plenty of things you can do with an over-ripe avocado (like guacamole or a smoothie for starters) without incorporating it into cake. But that’s no fun. I wanted to make something fun and out of the ordinary. So cake it was. (Plus I’ve been dying to make avocado cake ever since I saw it on Lorraine’s lovely blog!) My next question was how to incorporate both avocado and cherries into the same cake so that someone would actually want to eat it (admittedly, it is a strange combination, no?). I thought about making separate layers to keep the pretty red color from the cherries separate from the green avocado layer, and that’s when the idea of Spumone Cake came to me.
 Spumone is an Italian ice cream with different flavored layers. It usually has three layers: chocolate, pistachio, as well as some kind of fruit. For this cake, I started out using my basic recipe for classic yellow cake and then divided the batter into three different layers – chocolate, pistachio, and cherry. I thought that adding avocado to the pistachio-flavored layer of the cake would be a great way to naturally dye the cake green and also keep it moist.
I had high expectations for this cake and it was everything I had hoped it would be. After being fully baked it retained a moist, almost pudding-like consistency because of the avocado. This made it very rich, so be forewarned – a small piece is filling! The chocolate layer had a deep chocolate flavor; it was dense and reminded me of a brownie. The cherry layer was tinted with just a little almond extract to highlight the cherry flavor (cherries and almonds are a match made in heaven…which is why when you eat raw, unsalted almonds you may notice their slightly sweet, cherry flavor). The pistachio layer did not taste like avocado at all; it was full of pistachio flavor and because it was the middle layer, it kept the rest of the cake moist. There was definitely no need to frost this cake; I just sprinkled on a dusting of powdered sugar.
I think I just may have to put myself in the position again where I have a couple of cups of cherries and an over-ripe avocado lying around in my fridge. ;)
 Spumoni Pudding Cake
(Yield: 1 cake, about 8-10 servings)
1 1/2 c white sugar
3/4 c canola oil
3 eggs
3/4 c milk
2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c cherries, pitted and quartered (plus a few more cherries for garnish if desired)
1 Haas avocado
2 tsp pistachio extract
1 tsp almond extract
6 oz semisweet chocolate
2 TB cocoa powder
Butter and flour (to prepare the cake pan)
Powdered sugar (optional, to garnish)
Springform pan
In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the cherries until they are slightly softened and starting to look glossy (about 5 minutes). Set aside to cool to room temperature; stir in the almond extract.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler; cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 350F; butter and flour a springform pan. Beat together the sugar and oil, then cream in the eggs until light and fluffy; stir in the milk. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the wet; stir until just combined, making sure not to over-mix. Divide the batter equally into 3 separate bowls.
Mash the avocado; stir in the pistachio extract.
To bowl #1, stir in the avocado/pistachio extract mixture. To bowl #2, stir in the cherry/almond extract mixture. To bowl #3, stir in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder.
Pour the chocolate batter into the springform pan and spread out in an even layer; pour the pistachio batter on top of the chocolate batter and spread out; lastly, pour the cherry batter on top of the pistachio batter and spread out. Bake 45-55 minutes, until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a couple crumbs.
Cool completely, then dust with powdered sugar and a few cherries if desired. Keep refrigerated.
Tags: Avocado, Cake, Cherries, Chocolate, Pistachios, Spumone
Posted in Recipes | 52 Comments »
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
If you find yourself wondering what to do with so many cherries before their short-lived season is over, jam is the perfect answer – it lets you extend cherry season! Mike and I generally don’t eat a lot of jam, so the 3 cups that I made with this recipe will probably last us at least 6 months in the fridge. If you prefer, you can make a bigger batch and preserve the jam through canning.
 Instead of using a box of store-bought pectin to gel my jam I wanted to make (or rather, extract) pectin from scratch for a couple reasons. I had heard that it’s a fairly easy process and I really like the idea of taking something in its pure form and fully utilizing it. Plus I didn’t want to make an entire batch of jam, which I would have had to do if I bought a box of pectin (it’s only Mike and I eating it and I don’t have canning equipment to preserve it). In the end making pectin from scratch was the perfect answer.
 I found a wonderful article by Sam Thayer describing how to make your own apple pectin in detail. The process is fairly easy, in fact, it’s actually very similar to making applesauce. Just be forewarned that the pectin liquid has to strain out overnight, so plan your time accordingly if you want to make this.
The jam is absolutely delicious…if you’re finding it hard to say goodbye to cherry season I highly recommend making it!
 Cherry Jam
(Yield: About 3 c)
1 1/2 lb (about 5 medium or 6 small apples, or 6 c quartered apples) tart or under-ripe apples (I used Granny Smith apples)
1 c pomegranate juice (I used POM Wonderful)
3 c pitted and quartered cherries (heaping 3 c whole cherries) (I used sweet dark cherries but I think it would be even better with sour cherries)
2 c sugar
1 TB lemon juice
Heavy-bottomed 3-quart pot with a lid
Cheesecloth
Sieve
Candy thermometer
Sterilized lidded jars
Wash and quarter the apples (leave the skin on and the core intact). In a 3-quart pot with a lid over low heat, cook the quartered apples (including the skins and cores), pomegranate juice, and 1 c water (covered) for 2 hours, stirring every 15-20 minutes. (The apple/pomegranate/water mixture will have the consistency of watery applesauce when it’s done cooking.)
Line a sieve with 4 layers of cheesecloth and place the sieve over a bowl to catch the apple pectin liquid that drips out. Pour the applesauce mixture into the cheesecloth and let it drain overnight. Do not squeeze or press the liquid out, since this will cause it to have more of the under-ripe apple flavor. You should get about 1 c of apple pectin liquid; it will be a rosy color because of the pomegranate juice.
In a 3-quart pot with a lid over low heat, cook the apple pectin liquid and the cherries (covered) for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn the heat off and stir in the sugar and lemon juice.
Attach a candy thermometer to the pot so you can read the temperature of the jam. Turn the heat on low and cook until it reaches 220F, stirring very frequently (this took me about 35-40 minutes, but I think the time will probably vary a little based on heat and humidity). You can manually test whether the jam has cooked long enough to gel through 2 methods: (1) dip a wooden spoon into the jam and hold it sideways over the pot; the last jam to drip off should hang off the spoon in a bulging drop but not fall; or (2) freeze a plate, put a little jam onto the frozen plate, and put it back into the freeze for a few minutes; the jam should gel.
Once the temperature reaches 220F, cook another 5 minutes, stirring constantly (the temperature might climb a little, to about 224F), then turn off the heat and transfer to sterilized jars. Leave it sit without jostling it (so it can gel) while it cools to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator or if you make a bigger batch you can preserve it through the canning process.
 One way to tell whether the jam has cooked long enough is to dip a wooden spoon into it and hold the spoon sideways over the pot; if the last jam to drip off hangs off the spoon in a bulging drop but doesn’t fall, the jam is ready.
Tags: Cherries, Jam, Natural Pectin, Pomegranate Juice, Recipes
Posted in Recipes | 35 Comments »
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
I wait all year long for cherry season and then when it comes around I buy them buy the bagful. (Ok, it might just be an addiction.) This recipe is a great way to use up some of the (millions of bagfuls of) cherries I’ve been buying.
 You probably look at this picture and see a bag of cherries. I look at it and see breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Ok, I’m not that bad…but my cherry pitter is pretty much my new best friend. :)
I absolutely love the sugar-cookie-like crust on this tart, but for me the sweet cherries really are the highlight of the dish. The POM Syrup that’s drizzled on adds a little sweetness and another dimension of flavor.
 Cherry Custard Tart
(Yield: 1 (11-inch) tart)
Crust:
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
Filling:
2 large eggs
1 c whole milk
4 c fresh sweet dark cherries, pitted
POM Syrup:
1/2 c POM juice*
1/2 c sugar
11-inch tart pan
Preheat the oven to 350F. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, vanilla powder, salt, and baking powder. Use a fork to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it looks crumbly and there are some pieces the size of peas (it should be able to come together to form a ball when you press it). Pour the crust mixture into the tart pan and press it along the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Use a fork to make several pricks in the bottom of the crust, then bake for 20 minutes.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Arrange the cherries in a single layer on the bottom of the crust, then pour the custard on top. Bake for 35 minutes or until the custard is set and starting to turn golden.
For the POM Syrup: Combine the POM and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook on low to medium-low heat for about 25 minutes, until it’s reduced by about half and thickened about to the consistency of cough syrup. (It will thicken more as it cools, to about the consistency of honey.)
Let the tart cool slightly after taking it out of the oven, then drizzle about 2 TB POM Syrup on top. Save the rest of the glaze to drizzle on each slice or on the plates when serving. Cool the tart to room temperature, then refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting and serving.
*For more information on POM see my post for Dark Chocolate POM Brownies with White Chocolate POM Buttercream.
 The Dough for the Crust Should Have Some Pieces About the Size of Peas  The Dough Should be Able to Come Together to Form a Ball When You Press It
 POM Syrup: Cough Syrup Consistency Before Cooling and Honey Consistency After Cooling
Tags: Cherries, Custard, Recipes, Tart
Posted in Recipes | 44 Comments »
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
My favorite muffins are chocolate chip, and I especially love the chocolate chip muffins at Tim Horton’s. They’re moist, soft, and cakey with just the right amount of chocolate and a crunchy, sugar top. Sadly, my favorite Tim Horton’s chocolate chip muffins have a whopping 430 calories each, not to mention 40 grams of sugar and only 2 grams of fiber (you can get their full nutritional profile here).
I can’t say that my Black Forest Bran Muffins are as cakey and delicious as the muffins at Tim Horton’s, but then again cake under the guise of a muffin probably shouldn’t be part of breakfast anyway. These muffins are moist and delicious in a different way. A healthy way…and when paired with low-fat cottage cheese and an apple, it’s a filling, nourishing breakfast that fuels me for at least four hours.
 Baking with Honey: I do a lot of my baking with honey instead of sugar, because honey is natural and unprocessed, and contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that sugar lacks. Honey also helps keep baked goods fresher (because its enzymes fight mold) and moister (because it is hydroscopic, meaning it draws moisture to itself) for longer periods of time. When I develop a recipe with honey or experiment with substituting honey in a recipe, here are some helpful tips I keep in mind:
· Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you can use less.
· Honey is a liquid, so you can reduce the amounts of other liquids in the recipe.
· Honey is slightly acidic, so you can balance this with a little baking soda.
· Honey causes baked goods to brown faster, so to counterbalance this you can turn your oven down a bit (approximately 25 degrees Fahrenheit should do the trick).
You can read more about baking with honey at Glory Bee Honey or eHow.
 Honey’s Medicinal Qualities: Honey is completely marvelous in so many ways. In addition to its delicious taste and nutrition, raw honey has many medicinal uses. According to Dancing Bee Gardens, “Honey has a long history of medicinal use dating back thousands of years. While the health and healing properties of honey are wide and varied, it is raw honey’s antibacterial and antifungal properties that make it ideal for use on wounds, burns and infections. With its low pH and high sugar content, honey inhibits the growth of pathogens in much the same way that sugar is used to preserve jams and jellies. The hygroscopic nature of honey allow it to draw the moisture out of any bacteria or mold that are unfortunate enough to find themselves in contact with it. In this way, the bacteria found in infectious wounds are dehydrated and killed off by the application of honey. As if that was not enough, honey contains the enzyme glucose oxidase that upon contact with the skin, breaks down and slowly releases hydrogen peroxide in the process. Thus, honey provides a degree of antiseptic action that is unparalleled in the world of medicine.”
Black Forest Bran Muffins
(Yield: 12 muffins)
2 large eggs
1/3 c canola oil
1/2 c honey
3/4 c reduced-fat milk (I used 1%)
2 tsp almond extract (or pure vanilla extract)
1 c wheat bran
1 c plus 1 TB whole wheat flour, divided
1 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c dark chocolate chips
1/2 c dried cherries
1/2 c chopped pecans or any nuts you like (optional)
3 tsp turbinado sugar
Cooking spray
Muffin tray
12 paper liners (if using)
Preheat the oven to 375F. Beat together the eggs, oil, honey, milk, and almond/vanilla extract. In a separate bowl mix together the bran, 1 c flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the chocolate chips, cherries, and nuts with the remaining 1 TB flour and stir to coat. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet, then stir in the chips/cherries/nuts until just mixed (be careful not to overmix or your chips/cherries/nuts will lose their flour coating and sink to the bottom of your muffins). Fill the muffin tray and sprinkle 1/4 tsp turbinado sugar on top of each muffin. Bake for 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly moist with just a few crumbs (careful not to overcook so they won’t be dry).
Tags: Cherries, Chocolate, Honey, Muffins, Nuts, Recipes
Posted in Recipes | 29 Comments »
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
Oats are one of my favorite things to have for breakfast or dessert. As a kid, my mom made only one variety of oats for my siblings and I: rolled oats with butter and brown sugar. Despite its lack of diversity, this was delicious, and was one of our favorite breakfasts. At that time, I had no idea that one of the best things about oats is their versatility. You can remake candies (such as almond joys and caramel apples), cakes (like strawberry shortcake), and all manner of desserts into something healthy without sacrificing flavor, or having to spend all day slaving over a hot stove.
When I saw that this week’s Blogger Secret Ingredient was chocolate, I knew I wanted to post my recipe for Black Forest Oats (inspired by the cake!). I’m sending this recipe to Anna of London Foodie in New York for this week’s BSI!
Black Forest Oats
(Yield: 1 serving)
½ small banana, thinly sliced
¼ c steel cut oats
¾ c water
Dash salt
1 c fresh ripe cherries, pitted and halved
Cooking spray
1 TB chopped pecans
1 tsp dark chocolate chips
In a small pan, combine the banana, oats, water, and salt; heat on medium-low heat for about 12 minutes or until it reaches your desired consistency, stirring frequently. For the cherries, lightly spray a separate pan with cooking spray and cook them on medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until they start to soften. Top the oatmeal with the cherries, pecans, and chocolate chips.
Tags: Blogger Secret Ingredient, Cherries, Chocolate, Oats, Recipes
Posted in Recipes | 25 Comments »
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