Cherries, cherries everywhere......

[Sarah Phillips]

Wow, Sarah, that's wonderful.  Thanks for sharing it with us.

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You're welcome. How do I add the recipe to recipe gullet?

[ludja]

Thank you for the wondeful sounding recipe Sarah.

I think it's pretty self explanatory once you get started. Click on RecipeGullet at the top of the page. Then look on left margin for "add recipe to RecipeGullet" (it's in red typeface). In addition to pasting the text in, you'll be asked to do a few other things like pick a recipe category and some key words.

Mette: Thanks for the lovely photos of the cherries in your post... and congrats on your cherry pie. The marzipan lattice is an interesting way to incorporate almonds with cherries--- a great combination.

[TarteTatin]

I'm bumping this thread up, as we just came back from the Farmer's Market and bought two quarts of beautiful, darkish red cherries.

We have a dessert to make this weekend for a dinner party.

Any new and interesting ideas?

Also, any advice for easily pitting them (besides going out and buying a pitter)?

[Andrew Fenton]

Also, any advice for easily pitting them (besides going out and buying a pitter)?

Just buy a pitter. They're not expensive, and it makes the job so much easier!

Anyway, I picked four quarts of cherries on Friday; if any of them survive until tomorrow (something that is looking increasingly unlikely), I'm going to make cherry granita.

[jumanggy]

Re: pitting-- I tried the paperclip method, but my thumb and forefinger became sore after it. I wouldn't recommend it. You could also drive three nails through a board so their points are sticking out in a small triangle formation, then as you drive each cherry through them, the pit will sit on the nails' points. But that seems overly involved and kind of dangerous. I think if you have to pit more than 30 cherries at one time and see yourself doing so in the future, a pitter will already have paid for itself

[Tri2Cook]

Any new and interesting ideas?

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Not a new idea anymore but if you've seen Decoding Ferran Adria and you have some Iberian ham fat slouching around the place looking for something to do...

When it's for a small group and I can be certain they understand pits are involved I like to leave the stems on, dip them in tempered chocolate, then coat them in unflavored pop rocks. I call 'em cherry poppers and they're always popular. I suppose they could be done pitted as well but the juice could cause problems with the dipping.

[Linzerbear]

you could always make a cherry infused vodka, or an extract so that you could have the wonderful cherry flavor all year.

if you are into canning at all, you could just make big jars of your own Cherry pie filling, to make pies anytime of the year as well...

I personally, just like them fresh in anyway, fruit salad, maybe in a financier, or a granita.

[rlibkind]

Any new and interesting ideas?

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It's not new, but no dessert is surer to please than a cobbler with some good, vanilla ice cream (Bassett's french vanilla?).

When the pie cherries arrive (I saw some a few days ago, but they didn't look quite ready), I will be making sorbet; it's one of the finest uses of pie cherries I know (besides pie, of course).

[pastrymama]

I like to make the almond cake from David Lebovitz and top it with a lot of fresh bing cherries, sprinkle with sugar and bake. They sink in and get soft and juicy. It is really good with just whipped cream or ice cream.

[Mary Elizabeth]

I slightly cook the cherries, then freeze them in 400 g bags, just enough for tarts like this:

[Mary Elizabeth]

Regarding cherry pitters, www.sausagemaker.com makes a great cherry pitter. Well worth the money if you are doing lots of cherries. And it doesn't splatter cherry juice all over. Also, they make a great stainless steel (better than tin-plated iron) hand grinder for grinding sprouted grains. They are a very nice company to deal with.

[prasantrin]

When you freeze cherries, can you freeze them after pitting, or do you have to pit them before?

I only ask because usually around this time, I get a box of cherries, but I'm also usually about to leave town. Since I can barely make a dent in them before leaving, I'd like to freeze some, but probably won't have time to pit them.

[MelissaH]

When you freeze cherries, can you freeze them after pitting, or do you have to pit them before?

I only ask because usually around this time, I get a box of cherries, but I'm also usually about to leave town.  Since I can barely make a dent in them before leaving, I'd like to freeze some, but probably won't have time to pit them.

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I always pit first. Then I spread the pitted cherries on a cookie sheet, freeze in a single layer, and THEN bag. Much easier than dealing with an icy lump.

I'd think the cherries would mush, rather than cleanly pit, if you froze them before pitting.

MelissaH

[Mary Elizabeth]

MelissaH--Great idea about the individual freezing! Thanks!

Prasantrin--I agree about pitting before you freeze, although I've never done it after.

[prasantrin]

Thanks! I pretty much expected I'd have to pit before freeze, but I was just hoping to hear the answer I really wanted!

Now I just have to wait till the cherries come. I sure hope they arrive before I leave!

[Abra]

I picked about 25 kilos from the cherry tree at our house here in France. We definitely bought a pitter! I made everything I could think of with them and wrote about it here, which might give you some additional cherry ideas. Let me know if you need recipes for anything I made.

[dystopiandreamgirl]

a friend has a birthday on the 4th of july and always requests white on white; i try to add something to accommodate the rest of the family who might find that a bit boring. they live in an incredible old craftsman house with a vintage kitchen with accents of red, so i was inspired to make this..

closeup...

[Mary Elizabeth]

Dystopiandreamgirl--That's really elegant!

[racheld]

Just magnificent. It simply shines off the screen.

[dystopiandreamgirl]

thank-you!

cherry season is still on...

so i topped cupcakes with ganache, made cherry leaves from and dipped cherries in bittersweet callebaut:

for a birthday, 30 of them: