July 1999

CHERRIES

The season of cherries is fleeting. They arrive, glossy and brilliant, in colors from bright red to almost black to pale gold and rose...They're piled in great, seductive mounds at the farmers market or the roadside stand - and then they're gone.

Last year at this time I was in northern Michigan, where I used to spend summers by the lake as a child. I found myself in the heart of cherry country, at the height of the season. There was a roadside stand every few hundred yards. I bought a sack of the plumpest, shiniest black cherries I have ever seen, put them next to me on the seat of the rental car, and had my own cherry festival all day long as I drove on country roads, popping huge, juicy, explosively sweet fruits into my mouth, and filling the ashtray with stones. No strudel or pie could equal the delight of that bag of perfect cherries.

It's the best way to eat cherries - out of hand. But when we've eaten our fill of the fresh fruit, it's time to think about summer desserts - the ones that can only be made in high summer, and no other time.

Cherry pies, strudels and crisps are all wonderful. And one of the nice things about cherries is the very sociable way they combine with other flavors. They seem to bring out the best in vanilla, or almond paste; they pair up beautifully with apricots, peaches, nectarines, and apples; and the combination of cherries and dark chocolate is famously brilliant.

Perhaps my favorite way to enjoy cooked cherries is in a cold cherry soup, and the one I love best is the Cold Cherry-Lemon Soup. If you have the time, and you're having guests for dinner, treat them and yourself to this soup. Your fingers will look like you've been performing blood sacrifices out back, but you will serve a dish so indescribably delicious and beautiful that no one will be looking at your fingers. And if you want to save cherries for dessert, try Clafouti of Cherries. It is a simple pudding that is best eaten warm, and there's very little work involved after the cherries are pitted. Both of these recipes are in The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two.

I've had two other cherry desserts lately that are both delectable and dead simple to make - I think everyone should have them in their summer repertoire, and you'll find them in the new recipes section this month.

At a pot-luck dinner at a friend's house, someone brought a jar of brandied cherries. The fresh cherries were macerated in a mixture of honey, lemon juice, and excellent cognac. We spooned this heady mixture over scoops of vanilla ice cream, and added a thin, crisp cookie. The cherries had not been cooked at all, and the result was a fusion of freshness and intensity - but watch the kids around this!

The second recipe is for a cake, but before you stop reading, let me say that this is one of the quickest, simplest desserts I've made, and always a hit. It's the kind of thing you can make when people drop by unexpectadly, and stay to dinner, and you've just run out of biscotti, and then discover that the kids have eaten all the Belgian chocolates and the mango sorbet, too - oh well.

To make the cake, you beat up a batter of a few things that are almost always on hand - butter, sugar, eggs, flour - and pour it into a pan. Then you scatter pitted cherries over the top. Most of them sink into the cake as it bakes, giving it a bumpy and rustic look. When the cake has cooled slightly, you dust it with powdered sugar and put it on a pretty plate. Voila - a dessert nicer than anything you could get at the bakery, and it only took about fifteen or twenty minutes of your work time.

As you may have guessed, this user-friendly little cake can be varied with all kinds of summer fruit. I've made it with apricots, and with a combination of plums, cherries and nectarines. I've tried it with blueberries, and next week I plan to make one with blackberries or boysenberries. You can also add flavorings according to your mood - vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, or lemon rind. For the cherry version, I added some finely chopped almonds and a drop of almond extract. The cake can be served with a spoonful of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and dressed up with some fresh berries or cherries on each plate. If you like to entertain on short notice, this will turn out to be one of your secret weapons.

July 1999 recipe