Homemade Cherry Pie Filling

July 10, 2012 by 1 Comment

It’s cherry season here in Germany… and they are EVERYWHERE!  Last week I think my husband and father ate at least 10lbs in cherries.  All of them bought from a little German lady and her cherry stand on the side of the road here in Bavaria. Yeah, they’re that good.  And yeah… I got more.

 

Last night, my friend Mareile brought over 6 cups of fresh cherries from the cherry tree in her back yard.  More fresh, local, German cherries.  This time… I hid them from my husband and father so I could make pie.  Cherry pie.  Oh yeah…. fresh cherry pie.

Granted… I’ve never made cherry pie before.  BUT, I have made plenty of other berry pies so I figured this couldn’t be too difficult.  And I was right.  It wasn’t hard.  It was pretty darn easy.

Although… pitting the cherries proved to be a challenge.  I didn’t have a pitter.  LUCKILY one of my fabulous readers suggested I use a straw to pit the cherries.  Which is exactly what I did.  I took my green straw from my Starbucks reusable iced coffee cup and poked it through each cherry to get the pit out.  Worked like magic! I got cherry juice all over my fingers and table… but it was so worth it.  Took about 15 minutes to pit 6-7 cups of cherries.  YUM!

Now… you could prepare this filling while the cherries are ripe and in season and then store it in your freezer until you’re ready to turn it into pie.  OR you could just pour the filling into a pie crust and use it right away like I did.

And like I’ve said a million times before… I don’t make pie crusts.  I suck at it…. so I used a premade crust.  (Which I happen to enjoy, actually!)

CHERRY PIE FOR THE WIN!

 

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Homemade Cherry Pie Filling

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Enough to fill one 9in pie

Ingredients

  • 6-7 cups fresh cherries, pitted and clean
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 Tbsp corn starch
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbps Lemoncino liquor (or fresh squeezed lemon juice)
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Prepare the cherries by cleaning and pitting them. Set aside.
  2. In a large pot on medium heat, whisk together the sugar, water, corn starch, salt, almond & vanilla extracts and the Lemoncino. Continue whisking until the sugar and corn starch have dissolved completely.
  3. Add the cherries and gently fold into the liquid. Cook on medium to medium-low heat for about 10 minutes until the liquid thickens. Frequently stir the cherries, making sure not to break or crush them. The mixture might like to stick to the bottom of the pan if it's too hot... so make sure to scrape the bottom often.
  4. If you're using the filling for a pie right away, pour the mixture into a prepared pie crust. Bake at 425 F degrees for about 45 minutes or until the center of the pie is bubbling.
  5. If you're using the filling at a later date, allow to cool in the pan and then transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to one week or freeze for several months.
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Filed Under: cherry, pie, pies and tarts, recipes

Chocolate Cherry Blossoms

December 1, 2011 by 3 Comments

I went a little bit crazy buying the different variations of the Hershey Kiss this holiday season.  And when I say a little crazy… I mean I bought at least a dozen bags of them.  Just to bake cookies.

I know.  Obsessive.

But whatever.  It’s Christmas!

So today…  I originally wanted to make a peppermint sugar cookie, but then decided to use these Chocolate Cherry Kisses that had been sitting in the candy bowl screamed to be used up.  Also in my cabinet was a jar of marichino cherries and some mini chocolate chips.

DING DING DING! We have a WINNER!

Cherries + Chocolate = DELICIOUS

Cherries + Chocolate + Cookies = HEAVEN

This cookie is so super simple and easy to make… almost too easy.   And even better than it’s simplicity… it’s almost VEGAN! No eggs or dairy!  (Sub a non-animal shortening for the butter and you’ve got Vegan! HORRAY!)

ENJOY!

Chocolate Cherry Blossoms
Makes 2-3 dozen cookies (depending on size)

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3 tsp Maraschino cherry juice (the juice your cherries come in!)
1/4 tsp almond extract (vanilla is okay too if you don’t have almond)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup Maraschino cherries, chopped
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup sugar
Hershey’s Chocolate Cherry Kisses, unwrapped

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Cream together the salt, butter and powdered sugar.
  3. Add the cherry juice and extract and mix until combined.  Don’t forget to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl!
  4. Add the flour and mix just until combined.
  5. Fold in the chopped cherries and mini chocolate chips.
  6. Using a tiny 1in ice cream scoop… scoop then roll 1in balls of dough in your hand.  Roll them in the 1/2 cup sugar and place them on your cookie sheet 2in apart.
  7. Using the bottom of a glass, press the dough slightly to flatten… not too much, we don’t want pancake cookies!
  8. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown.
  9. As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, press a Kiss into the center of each cookie.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.
  10. I actually ran out of Kisses, so some of the cookies got a drizzle of a simple chocolate ganache on top!
  11. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from  Chickens in the Road.
Filed Under: blossoms, candy filled cookies, cherry, chocolate, cookies, recipes

Shirley Temple Mini Cupcakes

August 17, 2011 by 12 Comments

Hola friends! :) A few weeks ago I came across Shirley Temple cupcakes from The Curvy Carrot and I knew I haaaaad to make them!  I decided to go the mini route, just because they’re so cute, especially with a little cherry on top, but either way-they’ll be a big hit!

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Filed Under: almond extract, buttercream, buttercream, cherry, cupcake recipes, featured, frosting and icing, fruity cupcakes, mini, posts by jenn, recipes

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

July 29, 2011 by 43 Comments

As soon as I saw the recipe for Cherry Limeade cupcakes on Annie’s Eats I was certain it would make it into the rotation sometime this summer.  I put the call out to my friends that I’d be making them this week and got a couple orders for these little summer goodies.

The recipe from Annie’s Eats was a pretty basic recipe, but I wanted to kick things up a bit and really bring out the lime flavor.  In the original recipe, they noted that most of the lime flavor came from the lime syrup that was drizzed on top, but I really wanted a punch of lime to come through in the cake itself.  I zested two limes and pressed that into the sugar, bringing out the natural oils and flavors creating a lime sugar.  I also added the juice of the two limes into the batter.   I also added a bit more lime juice concentrate than the original recipe called for too.  :)  And a few other tricks.

I’m really happy with the intense lime flavor of these cupcakes.  Paired with the sweet cherry frosting, it’s a perfect summer treat!

Enjoy!

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes
Makes 4 dozen cupcakes

Cake
5 1/4 cups flour*
3/4 cup corn starch*
1 tsp salt
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 limes, zested and juiced

10 oz can of limeade concentrate or lime margarita concentrate, thawed and at room temperature

6 eggs

1 cup milk
1/3 cup hot water

*NOTE: This combo of corn starch and flour is to make cake flour.  If you have cake flour on hand, use 6 cups of it.

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, prepare the sugar by working the lime zest into sugar by pressing the back of a spatula down into sugar, thus releasing the oils from the zest into the sugar. This process should take about five minutes, and the sugar will become very fragrant. Set aside.
  3. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, salt, baking powder and soda three times.  You really want to make sure the corn starch is very incorporated into the flour.  Set aside.
  4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.  Add the lime sugar and mix on high until light and fluffy.
  5. Add the entire can of limeade concentrate and lime juice.  Mix until combined.  Don’t worry if it appears curdled… it’s normal at this point!
  6. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated.
  7. In three parts, add the flour mixture.  Between each addition of flour, add half the milk.  Mix only until the flour is just combined.
  8. Add the hot water and mix by hand until incorporated.  DO NOT OVER MIX!
  9. Fill liners 2/3 full, or use an ice cream scoop to distribute one full scoop into each liner.
  10. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  11. Cool in pans for 5-10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
Lime Syrup
1 10 oz can of lime juice concentrate or lime margarita concentrate, thawed
1 cup powdered sugar
  1. Whisk together the powdered sugar and thawed concentrate until all the sugar has dissolved into the concentrate.
  2. Once the cupcakes are cool cool, poke 7-10 holes in each cupcake with a toothpick.  Drizzle a tablespoon of syrup over each cupcake, allowing it to soak into the cake.
Cherry Buttercream
Double this recipe to have enough to frost 4 dozen lime cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted
5-6 tbsp Maraschino cherry juice
3-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/8 tsp Wilton Christmas Red food color gel

Maraschino cherries, for garnish
Lime wedges, for garnish

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth.
  2. Add the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time, to the butter.  Cream after each addition.
  3. After half the sugar has been added, add the cherry juice and mix until combined.
  4. Add enough whipping cream until you get your desired consistency, you may not need all of it, or you might want to add more.
  5. Mix in the coloring.
  6. After everything has been combined, mix on high for 30 seconds.
  7. Pipe onto cupcakes and top with a cherry and lime for garnish.
Tips & Tricks – Lemon & Lime Sugar
When using lemon or lime in a recipe, to really add a punch of flavor, zest the fruit into your sugar before creaming with the butter.  By working the zest into the sugar, you’ll create a fragrant sugar full of the oils and acids from the fruit creating an extra dimension of flavor to your cupcakes that will really make them stand out!  I do this almost every time I use lemon or lime and it really creates an exceptional product!  Good luck!
Filed Under: cherry, cupcake recipes, featured, frosting and icing, fruit, fruit frosting, fruity cupcakes, lime, recipes, tips & tricks, top posts sidebar