dessert

KNR, p. 323 “Cherry Pie with Almond Crumble Topping”

Cherries are in the grocery stores, in the frozen section as well as in the fresh produce aisles! It may be tradition to eat cherry pie around Washington’s birthday (because of the cherry tree legend) but we make it throughout cherry season (translation=whenever cherries are in stock at the store). Here’s a tried and true recipe, sure to please.

Cherry Pie with Almond Crumble Topping

Sheila Kerrian
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Cooling Time 2 hours 50 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Equipment

  • extra large bowl
  • 12" non-stick fry pan with lid
  • large, slotted spoon

Ingredients
  

Almond Crumble Topping

  • 1/3 cup sliced almonds, smashed/rough chopped
  • 1/2 cup all purpose unbleached flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons softened butter

Cherry Pie Filling

  • 6 cups frozen, pitted dark sweet cherries
  • 2 Tablespoons unbleached flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened black cherry juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure almond extract

Instructions
 

Pie Crust

  • Pre-heat oven to 375. Pre-bake favorite single, deep-dish, 9" pie crust on middle oven rack, 10-12 minutes (until light golden brown).
  • Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

Almond Crumble Topping

  • Place almonds in plastic bag, seal it, and smash the bag with the back of a spoon until the almonds are in small bits.
  • Using a fork, combine all dry topping ingredients in medium sized bowl.
  • Add softened butter and combine, using the fork to mix and create pea-sized crumbles. Refrigerate until needed.

Filling

  • Place frozen cherries in an extra large bowl and toss with the flour and sea salt.
  • Using non-stick 12” fry pan, stir together cherry juice, cinnamon, brown sugar, and almond extract until heated through – about 5 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the cherries to the fry pan, toss together until cherries completely coated with liquid, then cover and heat on medium low until heated through, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Remove 1 cup of cooked cherries from the pan, smash into rough chunks, then return to pan and toss together until completely mixed. Heat for additional 5 minutes.

Assembly

  • Using a slotted spoon, spoon entire batch of cooked cherries into the pre-baked pie crust. There will be about 1/4 to 1/2 cup thickened cherry liquid left in pan. Set aside in covered glass container and use as a sauce.
  • Spread the almond crumble on top of the cherries until completely covered to the edges. Place on middle rack of oven at 375 and bake about 30 minutes, protecting the pie crust from burning with crust covers if needed. Pie is done when crumble topping is golden brown and filling begins to bubble.
  • Place on cooling rack for 20 minutes, then place in refrigerator until firm, about 2.5 hours.
  • Serve with ice cream or the cherry sauce and enjoy.   
Keyword Pie

KNR, p. 323 “Cherry Pie with Almond Crumble Topping” Read More »

KNR, p. 317 “Blackberry Cobbler”

If there are no paragraph separations in the text, please double-click on the title to create a more readable version.


Everybody in Sheila’s family raved about her grandmother’s cobbler recipe. Grandma never gave up the secret, but did admit it was sooooo easy to make. However, easy to bake doesn’t mean easy to recreate. Sheila tried to duplicate the taste for many years, serving variations to anyone willing to take a chance on yet another attempt. Dessert lovers all, Sheila rarely heard a ‘no,’ whether similar in taste or not. 

BUT, this past week, an historical light clicked on in her brain and she worked on the premise of using ingredients that grandma had available to her at the time. This includes fresh blackberries from her own blackberry patch, and whole milk, because Grandma had cows. Sheila remembered seeing condensed milk in Grandma’s kitchen and asked why. Grandma just smiled and changed the subject, but its use makes a huge difference in flavor.

Sheila’s brother was visiting, tried it with creamy ice cream, whooped between bites, and declared, “She nailed it!”

For your consideration, really easy Blackberry Cobbler:

Blackberry Cobbler

Sheila Kerrian & Grandma
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 & 1/4 cups self-rising flour
  • 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup 1/2 cup milk
  • 6 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 6-8 ounces fresh blackberries, 1/2 cup reserved for garnish
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat oven to 325 and grease 13” x 9” baking dish.
  • Place flour, condensed milk, plain milk, and melted butter into large bowl. Mix with large spoon or whisk until blended. Pour into the greased baking dish.
  • Slice blackberries in half, lengthwise. Spread blackberries evenly across top of batter, flat side down, saving a few for garnish.
  • Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly on top of the blackberries.
  • Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes until light golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
  • Let cool on rack for 10 minutes.
  • Serve with ice cream or whipped cream and a few blackberries. (Whipped cream with vanilla flavoring is shown in the top photo)

Notes

 
 
The cobbler can also be baked in a liberally buttered, oven-proof stoneware pie dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

KNR, p. 317 “Blackberry Cobbler” Read More »

KNR, p. 228 “Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies”

The ‘Season for Everything Pumpkin’ should include a great pumpkin cookie.  🙂

At the Kerrian household, the time between Halloween and New Year’s Day is when we add pumpkin to lots of dishes. Some turn out to be scrumptious, some we never talk about again, but we had never found the right combo for a pumpkin cookie. Until now. By simply adding pumpkin to one of our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes, and tweaking it a bit, this has become a tasty regular snack treat for Autumn.

We (me, any neighbors we could snag, and the mail gal) taste-tested this one until we were satisfied. We might have taken longer than we needed to. Taste-testing is a challenge we take seriously, no matter how many cookies must be eaten.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

great cookie
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup spreadable butter or margarine (Land O Lakes butter with canola oil works well for this)
  • 1.5 cups firmly packed Domino’s light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup cane sugar
  • 2 jumbo eggs
  • 1.5 cups pureed or canned pumpkin
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 cups all purpose, unbleached King Arthur flour
  • 1 cup semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat oven to 375
  • In large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until creamy.
  • Add eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, sea salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg, stirring until thoroughly blended.
  • Add flour 1 cup at a time and beat until well-mixed.
  • Mix chocolate chips evenly throughout the dough.
  • Drop 1/4 cup dough for each cookie onto aluminum cookie sheets, about six per sheet.
  • Bake for 15-16 minutes until light golden brown.

Notes

Yield: 20-24 three inch cookies
Eat warm, five minutes out of the oven, or let cool completely and serve with ice cream. Sheila had a bowl of ice cream with a cookie and I made an ice cream sandwich with two cookies. Both of us had pecan praline ice cream with the cookies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

KNR, p. 228 “Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies” Read More »

Scroll to Top