jar cherries

[elfin]

I was at a Polish deli and bought a large jar of dark red cherries (with pits). They are not sweet and seem to be packed in water (red of course) that is neither sweet nor syrupy. Other than tossing them on ice cream any dessert suggestions?

[KatieM]

I think those might be the gorgeous cherries that RLB describes in The Cake Bible. I can't remember what they are called though. She uses them for cheesecake toppings and such. If I had a jar, I'd probably make a clafouti out of them. Or maybe some crepes? That's all I can think of at the moment, but for some reason, I can only think of eggy, custardy pairings right now. I think I just really like cherries with custards.

[kthull]

I bought a jar of Montmorency cherries at Trader Joes to use for Pierre Herme's Philadelphia Cake. Now I have two baby Montomorency cherry trees in my yard! I froze my whole crop for use next year: 13 oz.

[CompassRose]

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte of course! (You'll have to pit them though.)

[Wendy DeBord]

I'd put groites in my mousse ....then I make petite fours with it. Just a black forest cake is nice. Think of them as any other fruit and use them that way (pitting them first, of course).

Cherry napoleons, cherry sauce for a almond cake, cherry muffins, I use them in my danish filling, add them to other fruit and make a cobbler, cherries jubilee, blinzes with cherry sauce, cherry turnovers,etc.....

I take those cheap canned (I have a bucket of it, pie filling) cherries and mix it with my groites and dried cherries...the 3 together make a nice cherry combo. Add a little cinnamon and almond extract to compliment.

[achevres]

I made this pie: Cherry-Raspberry Pie a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit. I used Rose L. Berenbaum's cream cheese crust recipe, which is available here:RL Berenbaum's Apple Pie and Cream Cheese Pie Crust recipe. I used a glass pie plate and salted butter for the crust (I like it that way), but otherwise stuck to the directions. Note that you will need to double the crust recipe, since as written is for a single crust. You may have to add some extra sugar if your cherries don't have any at all. The American ones I bought were in a somewhat sweet liquid.

The cherries that Ms. Berenbaum talks about are American Spoon Foods Spoon Fruit, but the ones you got do sound like a similiar product.

Edited for clarity.

Edited July 10, 2004 by achevres (log)

[dexygus]

i'd probably make a cherry frangipane tart. i love frangipane made with almond paste, as opposed to ground almonds. mmm, and in a flaky, buttery crust. have fun, whatever you decide.