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Posts Tagged ‘cherry’

strawberrymuffins

With a fridge full of fresh cherries and strawberries, I found myself wanting to make a batch of muffins. I was looking for a very simple recipe where I could just stir in the chopped cherries and strawberries into the batter. I scoured the Internet for recipes and the only one that truly appealed to me was this recipe I saw on a blog I’m unfamiliar with, Cucina Nicolina.

I made six strawberry and six cherry muffins (I just divided the batter at the end). The muffins were exactly what I was looking for. I really enjoyed the texture and appreciated that they weren’t overly sweetened. The flavor of the fruit was the star.

Muffins are the perfect on the go breakfast. I usually just stash them in the freezer and grab one on my way out to work. These have been a welcome change to the banana muffins that I’m typically stocked with.

Strawberry (or Cherry) Muffins
(Recipe source Cucina Nicolina)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk (I used 2 percent)
2 cups cherries (pitted) or strawberries, roughly chopped (or 1 cup of each if you want to mix it up!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare muffin pan with cooking spray or liners.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, vegetable oil, sugar and milk. Make a hole in the dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients. Mix together until just combined. Do not overmix. Batter should still be fairly lumpy. Stir in chopped fruit (if you’re doing a combination, you will want to divide the batter first).

Fill muffin tins about two-thirds full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden in color.

Yield: 12 muffins

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cherrycobbler250

Tonight was the last night of my visit with my grandmother. Unfortunately, I have to head back to Charlotte tomorrow and rejoin the working world. I’ve definitely enjoyed my week off of work. My dad bought some great looking Bing Cherries at the Dekalb Farmers Market last weekend. He loves all things cherry so I decided to treat everyone to fresh cherry cobbler tonight.

I really love making fruit cobblers. They are a breeze to throw together and a great way to showcase summer fruits. I thought this cobbler had just the right ratio of fruit to dough (my biggest cobbler pet peeve is too much dough) and had just the right balance of tart and sweet. The topping is biscuity, which I prefer, and has just a hint of cinnamon.

If you are a cherry lover, this cobbler is a must try!

Fresh Cherry Cobbler
(Recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse)

Ingredients:

FOR THE FILLING:
5 cups Bing cherries, pitted
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3-4 teaspoons cornstarch

FOR THE TOPPING:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons cold butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare an 8 x 8 pan with cooking spray.

Mix together cherry filling ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until mixture is bubbling and thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir frequently. Start with 3 teaspoons of cornstarch and add extra teaspoon if necessary. Pour filling into prepared pan.

In the meantime, mix together flour, sugars, baking powder and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, combine egg and milk. Stir into flour mixture until just combined.

Top cherry filling with tablespoons of dough. You should have about three rows of three dough dollops. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until topping is golden in color.

Serve with ice cream.

Yield: 6-8 servings

cherrycobblerpan

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