Tart Cherry Crisp

It's cherry season here where we live.  This week I was lucky enough to get 2 bags of fresh picked "Pie Cherries" from my friend's tree.  As I was deciding what to make...cherry pie, cherry cobbler, cherry rolls, or cherry bread, (of course my husband always votes for the cherry rolls), I knew that I had to at least freeze half or more for later use.
Finally, I decided to do a quick and easy tart cherry crisp, for dinner dessert.  Let me show you.

You will need:
4 cups pitted tart cherries
2 Tabs. sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teas. nutmeg
1 1/2 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Wash, pit and place 4 cups tart cherries in a 9-inch pie plate.

This is the hardest part of the whole recipe, (cleaning and pitting the cherries), but once you have this done, it's all downhill from here.


Note:  if you don't have fresh tart cherries, you can always substitute 2 cans, (14 1/2 ounces) of pitted cherries from your grocery store).

Sprinkle the top of the cherries with
sugar
only 1/2 teas. ground cinnamon
only 1/2 teas. ground nutmeg

In a small bowl combine
flour
brown sugar
remaining 1 teas. ground cinnamon
remaining1/2 teas ground nutmeg
salt

Add in the cubed butter, and cut into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

 Your crumble topping will look like this.

Sprinkle crumb mixture over top of the cherries.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until the top is bubbly, and nicely browned.

Allow to cool for a few minutes.  Then you can serve it warm or at room temperature.

If you are a purist, (like I am), I love to eat it plain.

The cherries are slightly sweet, but not overly sweet.  The crumble has a nice flavor, due to the addition of just a small amount of spices.  So good, and summery.

My family like to top their crisp with a couple scoops of ice cream.  And they like their crisp warm, so the ice cream will melt down over the crisp.  Also, very favorable.

Try to get your hands on some tart cherries, and give this recipe a try.


Enjoy.

Orange Sweet Rolls

Lately several of the grocery stores have been selling large oranges at very good sales prices.  As I was enjoying a sweet, juicy, delicious one I got to thinking about my cherry rolls, and pumpkin rolls.  Then I thought, "Hey, it's time for some Orange Sweet Rolls, just like I remember grandma making".  These are super soft and sweet cinnamon rolls flavored with fresh orange, flaky layers, and topped with an orange icing.  And you can have it in just about 2 hours.  I already had all the ingredients in my kitchen.  Let me show you how easy they are.

You will need:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 package yeast
3/4 cup milk
6 Tabs softened butter
1 large orange
1 large egg
1 Tabs cinnamon
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Wash and dry the orange, then grate the peel, (you will need a total of 3 Tabs orange peel).  Next, juice the orange, (you will need  5 Tabs of fresh orange juice).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour 1/4 cup of sugar, salt, and yeast, (2/14 tsp of yeast).  Mix it well.

Place the milk and 3 Tabs of butter in a microwaveable container.

Heat until the butter is melted and the milk is warm, (about 120 - 130 degrees).

Add in 2 Tabs of orange juice.

 Add in 1 Tabs of orange zest.

Add in the egg.

Mix well.

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients.

Stir until the flour mixture forms a soft dough and comes away from the sides of the bowl.

 Turn out unto a lightly floured work surface, and knead the dough for about 5 minutes adding in more flour if needed, (1 Tabs at a time), until the dough becomes smooth.

Your dough will look like this when it is smooth and has enough elasticity.  You can press your finger into the center of the dough and the dough will bounce back.  Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rest for about 10 to 15 minutes.  The dough will rise slightly.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 14 X 8 inch rectangle. Notice the lovely orange zest in the dough.  And it smells heavenly.

Lightly spread the remaining 3 Tabs of butter over the dough.

In a small bowl, combing the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, and the remaining orange zest, (about 1 to 2 Tabs.).  Mix together well.

Spread the sugar mixture, evenly over the buttered dough.

Starting at the long end, roll the dough tightly.  Make sure to seal up the ends and the edges, so the filling stays inside.

Cut the dough into 10 to 12 pieces.  In our house, we light larger rolls, so we usually only get 8 to 9 rolls from our dough.

Place the rolls in a greased 9 ince round cake or pie dish.  Cover and allow to rise, until double in size, in a warm place for 60 to 90 minutes.


NOTE:  If you want to make these ahead of time for breakfast, you can stop at this point and cover the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator, (BEFORE it has a change to rise).  Then the next morning, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise at room temperature, (about 1 hour).  And proceed with the directions.

After 60 minutes, this is how much my rolls have risen.  We can not wait any longer, so we will bake ours now.  Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes until the rolls are lightly browned.  If your oven bakes hot, cover your rolls after 15 minutes with a piece of aluminum foil to avoid over-browning on top.  When the rolls are done, remove and place on a cooling rack.

In a medium bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 or 3 Tabs of orange juice. 

Whisk until smooth.

Drizzle or spread over the rolls while they are still warm.

Your rolls are now ready to eat !

OH BOY !  Are these ever delicious.  You can taste the orange, but it's not over powering.  And the layers of flaky dough, so light and airy.

Give these a try.  Not to many ingredients needed for a wonderful treat.

Cherry Rolls

If you saw last weeks post for Tart Cherry Cobbler, then you know about the wonderful gift from my friend.  I grew up in North Central Ohio, in the middle of Amish and Mennonite county.  My father was a UPS driver, and delivered to many of these families.  He was always bringing home treats from a farmer's wife and recipes.  One of those treats is for these wonderful cherry rolls.  They are like cinnamon rolls, but they do not use a yeast dough, so they only take 1 hour from start to finish.  And they aren't overly sweet to the taste.

You will need:
1 egg
3/4 cup sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teas salt
1/4 teas baking soda
2 1/2 teas baking powder
5 1/2 Tabs. softened butter
2 cups tart cherries (cleaned and pitted)
1/3 cup + 2 Tabs white sugar
1 teas cinnamon
1 teas nutmeg
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tabs cornstarch
1 1/2 cup 100 % cherry juice
1 teas almond extract
2 cups powdered confectioners sugar
3 - 4 Tabs milk

In a medium bowl whisk 1 egg

 Add the sour cream, and whisk together.

Add in the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  Stir together well.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.

Lightly pat into a rectangle, this will help you get the rolling started.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle until it is 1/4 inch thick.

This is what your dough will look like when you get it rolled out.  the dough will be a little sticky still, so make sure you have the surface dusted with flour.

Using 2 Tablespoons of softened butter, lightly spread  it over the top of the dough.

Sprinkle the cleaned and pitted cherries over the top of the buttered dough.

NOTE:  if you don't have fresh tart cherries, you can use canned drained tart cherries, (make sure they are packed in water and not sugar).

Next sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of white sugar over the cherries.

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of nutmeg over the cherries.

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cinnamon over the cherries, sugar, and nutmeg.

Roll up the dough, starting with the long end of the rectangle, (like making a jelly roll).  This is why you want to make sure your work surface has a light sprinkling of flour, (so the sticky dough doesn't stick too much).  Be gentle, so you don't tear the dough.

Once you have the dough rolled up, cut into 9 - 12 pieces, (as desired - depending on the size pan you will be cooking in).

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

Spray coat a deep sided baking pan with cooking spray.  I like to use a large aluminum pie tin, (cutting the dough into 9 pieces), or a 9 X 13 inch pan, (cutting the dough into 12 smaller pieces).

Place the rolled dough in the prepared pan.

In a small saucepan, add 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup white sugar, and 2 Tablespoons cornstarch.  Mix together well.

Whisk in the cherry juice and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.

NOTE:  You can find cherry juice in most grocery stores, or you can juice some extra cherries.  If you want the juice from the cherries to be extra red, you can add a couple drops of red food coloring.  If you can't find 100% cherry juice, you can also use a box of Juicy Juice Cherry flavor, (it's pure juice).

Over medium heat, bring the sugar/juice mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil until the mixture thickens slightly, (this will take about 5 - 10 minutes).

Add 1 12 Tablespoon of softened butter, and mix well.

Pour the mixture over the rolls.  Bake for 25 minutes, (or until just lightly browned).

While the rolls are baking, you can make the icing drizzle mixture..

In a small bowl, add 2 Tablespoon melted butter.

Stir in 2 cups powdered confectioners sugar.

Add in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, and 3 or 4 Tablespoon of milk.  Stirring after each Tablespoon of milk is added to the sugar mixture.

You want your icing mixture to be of a drizzle consistency.

When the rolls are done, remove from oven, and let cool on baking rack.

Once the rolls are cool, drizzle the icing mixture over the rolls.  And they are ready to serve.

These are great for breakfast, as a dessert, a snack time treat, a great item to serve when guest come over.

And they only take 1 hour to prepare.

Just cover loosely and store in the refrigerator.  They are great heated up for 30 seconds in the microwave, or even eaten cold, or at room temperature.

They have a wonderful cherry flavor, but they are not overly sweet, and the cherries are not too tart to enjoy.

I have always gotten compliments on my cherry rolls.  They are a nice change from the usual cinnamon rolls.

I hope you've been able to find some fresh tart cherries, and can give this wonderful cherry roll recipe a try.

Enjoy !