Got Cherries?
Thursday, June 28, 2012 at 1:55PM 
No sooner had I finished writing my last post (noting the gloriously mild spring/summer we’ve been having) than a blazing inferno slammed the trunk on spring and we’re now “enjoying” 100+ temperatures coupled with ridiculous humidity levels. That’s life here in the Midwest. But in a lovely bit of coincidence, we’re on our way to the Western Headquarters of the Circle B Kitchen, located in a little town on the Central Coast of California, which, this time of year, is most often shrouded in cool, if not chilly, ocean mists and fog. I’m in.
But I couldn’t bear to leave you without a little summertime inspiration, and what better to inspire you than a few recipes using the beautiful cherries that are showing up in the markets in earnest right now. Cherry season is my all-time favorite, and I hope to have a few new cherry recipes for you before summer’s end. In the meantime, here are a few of our favorites from the past…
Crepes with Mascarpone, Chocolate Chips and Cherry Compote
(You won't even believe)
Sour Cherry Cobbler with Homemade Lower-Fat Ice Cream
(Incredibly delicious)
Cherry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake
(one of our favorites)
Now, when you’re cooking with fresh cherries, pitting all of those cherries can be a bit of a chore, especially if you don’t have a cherry pitter. Here’s a little tip from Food52 for a very ingenious way to pit all of those cherries using a couple of items you probably already have in your kitchen…
An Easy-Peasy Way to Pit Cherries
I do hope you feel a bit inspired to get your hands on some fresh summer cherries and make one or all of these delicious recipes.
Summer will most likely keep its chokehold on the Midwest for the near future, and no doubt our respite from the heat will be short-lived. But heat or no, we already look forward to our return and sharing more scrumptious food and recipes with you. In the meantime, stay cool, eat well and let someone else do the dishes.
Reader Comments (8)
I love all these wonderful ideas! I have a huge bowl of cherries in the sink right now and am so excited to try one of these. Have a great trip!
I'm so jealous that you get to flee this heat and go to California! We're in Kansas and melting away. Enjoy your getaway and thanks for the great cherry recipes!
I don't even know which one of these to make first! Cherries are my favorite and these all look so good!
My sister and I check in on your blog every few days and just wanted you to know that we miss your posts and hope you're having a nice vacation. Hurry back! We miss you!
Made the mascarpone crepes last night for a family party and they were a HUGE hit! Everyone loved them and wanted the recipe. They're amazing! Thanks for the recipe. They're a new family favorite!
These all look very drool-worthy! I recently saw Mario Batali pitting cherries by basically giving them a quick whack with the side of a chef's knife then quickly picking out the pits. I tried it later with a bench scraper and it worked perfectly! It's not for when you need the cherries to still look picture perfect, but for something like a pie or cobbler where you need lots of cherries pitted, it goes very quickly and easily. Be careful not to smash them too roughly, though, or you'll have cherry juice everywhere. :-)
Thanks for that, Shea! That sounds very much like our method for pitting kalamata olives. It makes sense that it would work for cherries too.
I love cherries and have a bunch! Thanks for all the ideas, they look lovely!! :-)