Recipe Friday

Cherry Crisp

Filling:
6 cups (about 2 pounds) sweet cherries, pitted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. To prepare the filling, combine cherries, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, juice, almond extract, and salt in a large bowl; toss gently. Spoon cherry mixture into an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. To prepare topping, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in chilled butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in sliced almonds. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over cherry mixture. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is crisp. Let stand 5 minutes; serve warm.

Verdict: pitting cherries sucks. This seemed like such a quick and easy recipe until I was faced with two pounds of fruit and only a paring knife to help. At least it went quickly after that. I left out the almond extract because I didn't have any, and I increased the sliced almonds to 1/2 cup because that's how much I had.

I thought it was quite delicious. The cherries were tart and the topping was buttery, and I think it was an improvement over even cherry cobbler, especially with a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt. The only change I think I would make is to half the amount of cornstarch so the filling wouldn't be quite so thick. B wasn't very excited about this one. He said it was too sweet, but then again, he can't even stomach apple juice without watering it down. I need another opinion, but it's too messy of a dessert to take to work. Anyone want to come over and try it? I think I will make it again and take with me to my Mom's for Christmas, where there is inevitably a party of roughly 68,000 people in the living room looking for dessert.