Simple Christmas Baking: Part 2 Dried Cherry Oven Pancake

Dried Cherry Oven Pancake

Here’s another recipe that can be served for breakfast or dessert. It’s easy to mix up and it can bake while you spend time with your family. Make this with dried Michigan cherries! (You can get them in big boxes at Meijer.)

1 T. butter, melted, plus more for the pan

3 large eggs, beaten

1/3 C., plus 1 t. granulated sugar

3/4 C. all-purpose flour (or a scant less whole-wheat pastry flour; the final product will not rise as high with whole-wheat flour, though.)

1 1/4 C. whole milk

1/2 C. dried cherries

Heat oven to 375. Butter the bottom and sides of a 2-quart baking dish. In a bowl, combine the eggs and 1/3 C. sugar. Whisk in the flour until no lumps remain. Whisk in the milk and melted butter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and scatter the cherries over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and bake until puffed and golden, about 45 minutes. Serve warm.

Cherry Sunday

Cherries are still in season, but barely. I love cherries. I love dressing Evelyn in dresses with cherries on them because we live in Michigan and we proudly grow cherries here.

This year, after years of pitting cherries with, yes, an oddly-shaped paper clip, I finally invested in a cherry pitter. Well, it’s hardly an investment because it cost less than $13.00, but it was totally worth it. I purchased an OXO cherry pitter that can also be used for olives.

Well, after I purchased mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond, we went to a local grocery, Russo’s, and I saw the most adorable cherry pitter.

Isn’t it cute? It’s called the Cherry Chomper, but I haven’t tried it, so I can’t attest to how well it works.

If you make a lot of stuff with cherries, I’d recommend purchasing a pitter. It keeps your hands stain-free. (I’ve had several July days in past years where my hands looked like I’d killed something. I performed in plays with cherry-stained hands. Thankfully, no one said anything.)

Once you pit your cherries, try this recipe for a cherry sundae sauce. It’s good and keeps well in the refrigerator.

Cherry Sundae

1/2 C. sugar

1 C. water

2 T. lemon juice

3 C. pitted Bing cherries

1 T. cornstarch

2 T. kirsch or sherry (I used sherry.)

vanilla ice cream

Combine sugar, water and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Add cherries and simmer for 10 minutes or until soft.

Remove half the cherries and set aside. Puree the remaining cherries in a blender or use an immersion blender. (Wear an apron if you have on a light color.)

Return the puree to pot. Combine 2 T. of the puree with the cornstarch. Stir back into pot and bring to a boil, stirring. Add remaining whole cherries and kirsch or sherry.

Serve over ice cream, garnished with whipped cream and another cherry, if you so desire.

This makes enough sauce for about 6 sundaes.

Autumn Baking #3: Dried Cherry Scones

Michigan is a great place to get dried cherries and I have a great old favorite recipe that uses them: dried cherry scones. Scones are pretty ubiquitous these days, but I remember the late 1980’s or early 1990’s when my mom started making them. They were ethnic, they were English and therefore high-class, and they were really exciting. 

But they’re still pretty exciting. A scone is really biscuit dough with an egg in it and sometimes fancy things (chocolate chips, dried fruit, lavender flowers) added for flavor. They’re great for breakfast and, if you have a little self control, will stick around a few days on the counter without getting too dry. 

Usually when I make this recipe, I substitute 100% whole wheat pastry flour for the cake flour. This makes good scones that aren’t as fluffy as they would otherwise be. You do whatever you’re comfortable with–adding any percentage of whole wheat pastry flour you prefer. Just don’t cut back on the butter. That’s what makes a scone a scone. Eat some soup for lunch and dinner; it will all work out in the end.

Dried Cherry Scones

4 C. sifted flour (all or a combination of cake flour, all purpose flour, or whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 C. sugar plus more for sprinkling

1 T. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces

1 C. dried cherries

1 large egg

1 C. whole milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream (Cream makes a better scone, obviously, but I usually use whole milk.)

Preheat oven to 375 with the rack in the middle.

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Scatter butter on top and blend with your fingers or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in dried cherries.

Whisk together the egg and cream in a small bowl then fold into flour mixture until dough just comes together. The dough will be very delicate.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, press into a 1″ thick rectangle or circle. If you cut a rectangle, use a 3″ biscuit/cookie cutter to cut out circles. I prefer to make a large circle and slice the dough into 8 wedges. The scones will be larger, but this is a lot less work and you don’t have to gather up the fragments and re-cut, which makes the dough more tough.

Sprinkle the top of the scones with sugar, if you wish. Bake scones, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until the tops are golden, 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the scones. Cool on a rack about 10 minutes before serving.

Eat with a cup of coffee or tea and fresh fruit. Enjoy your food; don’t feel guilty. Just don’t eat scones everyday.