Make Mine Cherry

Now that cherries are in season, we've been pitting them to freeze for baking Black Forest Cherry Cakes in the winter. We have a handy dandy cherry pitter that works with a plunger system and pits two cherries at a time. Okay, so it looks a little bloody, but that's really cherry juice. I promise.

 

Of course, we can't pit cherries without eating some of them now! I went in search of cherry recipes because I had something in mind. When I didn't find it, I took a big chance and experimented. This is so easy to do! Seriously, the most time consuming part is pitting the cherries and cutting them in half.

I added some cornstarch to bind up any juice, but I'm not totally convinced that it's necessary. The trick here is to partially bake the puff pastry before adding the cherries. I think you could do the same thing with peach or nectarine slices.

Rustic Cherry Tarts with Puff Pastry

1 sheet puff pastry thawed according to package

1 3/4 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted and sliced in half

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Ice cream

Thaw the puff pastry according to the instructions on the package. Preheat oven to 400.

Toss the cherries with the sugar and cornstarch.

When pastry is thawed, cut into four rectangles. Bend the edges over and press firmly. I found this worked best if I picked it up and pressed with my thumb on one side and finger on the other side. Prick the pastry in the middle and on the edges. Bake 12 minutes. The middle will have puffed up.

Gently pressing the middle down, lay the cherries sliced side down on the pastry, fitting as many as possible on a single layer. When all are done. you can add a few extra cherries on top of the layer.

Bake 14 minutes. The pastry edges should be golden brown and baked through.

Serve with a scoop of ice cream on top. Best eaten the day they were baked, but you can store them in the fridge overnight. They're good the next day but not quite as wonderful.

Mix the cherries with the cornstarch and sugar.

Fold over the edges and press.

The middles puff up!

Fill with cherries.