It was a beautiful day to visit the orchard - mild but breezy and with a consistent cloud cover that allowed the coastal air flow to keep the temperature down even out in Brentwood. Our timing was pretty good too, we made a same day appointment for Wednesday afternoon and just as we arrived they opened a new section of the orchard - loaded cherry trees were ready for us to pick their bounty. Even better, there were cherries in easy reach of the toddler and older kiddo alike, they were so happy to be picking their own! They also stole plenty from my basket because I could pick them faster and they wouldn't stand for that, go figure.
In all, we came home with a little over 10lbs of cherries. A nice, small Whole Foods bag filled to the top with juicy and oh so sweet fruit. The kids started proposing projects almost immediately, First in line, a fruit and cheese snack and cherry water (basically fresh fruit cut up in water, kiddos have an instinct for the spa water movement apparently). But that gave me an idea - sangria! I cut up some cherries, sliced some lemon and topped them off with a bottle of rose and a shot of rum for a perfect dinner accompaniment. A couple of hours of chilling in the fridge let the flavors marry and the color of the cherries brighten up the wine.
I then set out to work to make a flakey pie crust using the best recipe I've ever tried from Sally's Baking Addiction. Shhh the secret is strategic use of shortening and care not to overmix. I cup up some cherries (this will become a theme in this post as you might have noticed), tossed them with a bit of corn starch and vanilla paste, then folded them in a rustic and beautiful galette form - my entry in this month's Sally's Baking Challenge which I love participating in because it throws in new ideas or techniques to try. This was served warm, with a side of black sesame ice cream.
I couldn't let a fantastic pie crust go to waste (or eat a double pie crust in one sitting), so I repurposed some of it for a cobbler. Same filling as the galette, but piled into an oil sprayed ramekin and topped with a thin disc of crust and a sprinkling of demerara sugar. Greek yogurt on top and I got myself a wonderful and indulgent breakfast the next day.
Meanwhile I was pointed in the direction of this beautiful earl grey yogurt cake from Bon Appetit (recipe link) and I couldn't say no to such an amazing idea. This became a canvas for more cherry applications - first, a simple breakfast with a slice of tea cake, yogurt, cherries and nut butter. Paired with a mug of hot black coffee, this made for a delightful way to start the day.
Later in the day, when we dug into the cherry bag once more for the kids' snack, I couldn't resist revisiting the earl grey cake, this time with ricotta and a chocolate tahini topping. Coffee break has never been more flavorful and fresh, though if you've seen the recipes I've been working with lately you know I'm always in pursuit of light but satisfying afternoon pick-me-ups.
The breakfast cherry pursuit continued with another twist on the cobbler - this time I mixed cherries with apples, added some cinnamon and cardamom and topped them with this delicious oatmeal and nut crumble that I've come up with. Instead of the usual butter to crisp up the oats I used nut butter, which adds tremendous flavor, but is also a source of protein and healthy fats. I mixed in slivered almonds as well to enhance the texture. Topped with yogurt this was a perfect breakfast.
In the line of cherry based drinks, the kids asked for bubble tea in the afternoon so we made cherry tea - simply hot water added on top of chopped up cherries - the flavor was wonderful. For my drink, I blended some of the cherries in the infusion, then mixed in jasmine green tea and a splash of milk to get a light, fruity and floral boba drink.
With fresh cherries in hand, I simply had to make a childhood favorite - Romanian cherry coffee cake. The batter is similar to that of pound cake and it's loaded with fruit on top before baking. The fruit softens and deepens in flavor, and the juices soak into the cake as it bakes, it's all around delightful. I found a recipe online to follow, but I'm on a mission to find my grandma's old school recipe and I will share it here once I track it down. To add some fun to the mix, I baked the cake in my trusty donut pan and a couple of silicone rose shaped cups.
Last but certainly not least, with the last of the cherries I made an easy and light bread pudding. It's a very forgiving recipe and convenient prep-ahead for a fresh baked breakfast at the ready. For my mini loaf pan (serves two for a light dessert, or go all in for one more generous serving) I whisked an egg, a quarter cup of almond toasted coconut milk, a couple of tablespoons of applesauce, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt, and tossed in two slices of cinnamon raisin bread cubed small. After folding in chopped up cherries, this went in the fridge overnight and was ready to bake in the morning, it's so much better when the custard mix soaks into the bread thoroughly. Topped it with, you guessed it, greek yogurt and served for breakfast after a 20-25min trip to the hot oven in the morning.
Thus ends my cherry baking and snacking marathon, I am now looking forward to the next picking season coming up, peaches and apricots. Scroll on for my fruit crumble recipe, illustrated in its cherry-apple version.
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Cherry Apple Crumble
Ingredients
1 small apple
1 cup of sweet cherries
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
pinch of salt
1/6 cup (17g) oatmeal
1/2 tbsp (8g) almond butter
1 tbsp slivered almonds
Method
- Cut up the apple in small even cubes, pit and quarter the cherries.
- Spray the inside of two 6oz ramekins and preheat oven to 350F.
- Toss fruit together with corn starch, vanilla and spices, then divide it between the two ramekins.
- Rub nut butter into the oatmeal - using your finger is the most effective for this, you want to coat them as evenly as possible.
- Toss in chopped up slivered almonds, then sprinkle over the fruit.
- Bake in the hot oven for 20-25 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbly and soft.
- Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or yogurt, depending on preference.
Notes
- You can use 1.5-2 cups of any fruit you prefer, though if it's not as sweet as the cherries you can consider adding 1tbsp of sugar to the filling (blueberries, strawberries, peaches, plums would work quite well)
- Customize the spices to your taste as well, the limit is your imagination - warm spices are great (cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger), but also extracts like rum or almond.
- The oatmeal can be mixed with any nut butter you prefer, I also like using nuttzo nut and seed butter for the texture or tahini.
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