A number of you requested recipes for the last post, both in the comments section and by email. Finally, finally, here is both my mother's Cherry Borscht and the Sour Cherry Streusel Cake, a recipe originally introduced to me by that culinary wonder of a gal-pal Ernie, whom you'll recognize from the comments section of this blog. Sorry for the delay in posting recipes -- we've been in vacation/crisis mode, which has included many serious last-minute changes, so blogging among other things has definitely suffered.
Sour Cherry Borscht
6 cups sour cherries (Montmorency preferred), washed and stemmed, but left whole with pits intact
6 cups water (or enough to cover by about an inch in a shallow pot)
1/2 cup sugar (or more to taste)
pinch of good cinnamon (Penzey's Vietnamese, for example)
2 eggs
Sour cream, crème fraîche, or Greek yogurt for serving
Place cherries, water, sugar and cinnamon in a pot. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until cherries are tender but not falling apart or losing their skins. Beat the two eggs well in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk in hot cherry juice from the pot, a tablespoon at a time, so that eggs become hot but don't curdle. When a cup or so of juice has been amalgamated, pour the egg mixture back into the hot pot of cherries and liquid and stir well. Taste for sweetness, and add more sugar if you like. We actually like this quite tart. It should taste richly of sour cherries, but the flavor deepens exponentially once the soup is chilled. Let the mixture cool to room temp, and then chill for several hours.
Serve cold with sour cream or one of the other options dolloped on top. Warn others about the pits, and bring a little dish to the table for spitting out pits. You could, I suppose, pit the cherries before you make the soup. We never did, so I never will. The pits supposedly add to the flavor. While spitting out pits may seem inelegant to some, I think of it as one of those messily fun and companionable summer eating activities, like cracking lobster or crabs, or eating watermelon.
Sour Cherry Streusel Cake
I'll give you this with the modifications I made to it, which were to add almond paste, almond extract, and to make half again as much of the streusel topping, since almond is lovely with cherries, and the first time I made this cake the topping was a little skimpy for me. This is also sumptuous made with other fruits -- peaches, apricots, plums, berries. I made it not long ago with a combination of strawberries (which I generally never use for baking) and black raspberries, and it was quite wonderful
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/3 cup (75 mL) butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 oz. almond paste
1 egg
1 cup (250 mL) half-and-half or light cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp grated lemon zest
4 - 5 cups (1 L) pitted, drained sour cherries or other seasonal sliced fruits
Streusel Topping
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour
1 generous cup (260 mL) brown sugar
3/4 cup (190 mL) butter, at room temperature
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. Using the work blade, cut in butter and almond paste to make coarse crumbs. Beat egg in a bowl; stir in cream, zest and extracts. Pour this slowly through the feed tube of the food processor, and pulse the mixture until just mixed -- it should make a quite thick batter. Drop by spoonfuls into a parchment-lined, generously buttered 13 x 9-inch (3-L) cake pan and spread evenly. Top with cherries in a single layer.
Combine flour and brown sugar in a bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or fork to make coarse crumbs (or you can do this first, in the food processor, before you make the batter and reserve it). Sprinkle evenly over fruit. Bake on middle rack of oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until top is golden. Place pan on a rack and let cool. Cut into squares and serve.
I like it very much.Keep doing the same.I know some information about.
Posted by: track cell | November 06, 2011 at 11:32 AM
This site is very informative and valuable for me because i got huge knowledge from this site really this site is great, Thanks to administrator who created this site. Thanks
Posted by: Daily deals | November 17, 2011 at 09:04 AM
There is no difference when it comes to reliability of these browsers. But the problem is that, Firefox has too many versions and updates release but the core open source is not that best like chrome.
Posted by: find a cell phone number | November 21, 2011 at 03:18 AM
Hi, listen, I'm pretty new on this blogosphere and Internet thing, so I don't know if there's a sort of "subscription" method that I can use in order to receive notifications of your new entries...? Thing is I enjoy reading your blog a lot and I'd like to be up to date with your posts!
Posted by: find cell phone numbers | November 21, 2011 at 04:04 AM
hello. sincerely your blog with great contedo I think, very useful for the work I do today. let me thank the comments of others who participate in this blog because it serves to instruct better about it. great job. thanks
Posted by: public background check | November 22, 2011 at 01:02 AM
Thanks for sharing dear buddy keep it up. Everyone has right to say something. So, Everyone should keep it up
Posted by: public background check | November 22, 2011 at 01:08 AM
I’m always surprised with the new comings into our software stores.
Posted by: Build Solar Panels | November 22, 2011 at 04:26 AM
FYI: His article was written after mine, and makes uses of Javascript, which my script does not.
Posted by: reverse cell | November 23, 2011 at 02:45 AM
There are a lot of things that can happen to disrupt life that are not your fault, and sometimes the best you can do is ride it out.
Posted by: office cleaning ny | December 23, 2011 at 02:51 AM
There are a lot of things that can happen to disrupt life that are not your fault, and sometimes the best you can do is ride it out.
Posted by: ny cleaning service | December 23, 2011 at 02:57 AM
There are a lot of things that can happen to disrupt life that are not your fault, and sometimes the best you can do is ride it out.
Posted by: ny cleaning service | December 23, 2011 at 03:05 AM
Thanks for shareing! I agree with you. The artical improve me so much! I will come here frequently.
Posted by: Buy celebrex online | December 28, 2011 at 07:59 AM
The global hospitality business is no stranger to crisis management, read articles about how to manage a crisis, response to situations, PR & Crisis Communications and more.
Posted by: Dublin hotel deals | January 11, 2012 at 02:20 AM
Woah! This is such a great deal!
Posted by: mp3 for meditation | January 16, 2012 at 01:46 AM