Cooking Up Fresh Cherry Dessert in the Country

Last Friday I shared about buying fresh cherries recently.  I wanted to bake them up into something yummy and I came across this recipe on the Internet…

It turned out to be a not-too-sweet dessert, but a really delicious one.  It took me longer to pit the cherries than it did to assemble the crumble.  It made six small servings; perfect after dinner with a scoop of ice cream on it!

I found Rainier cherries that look like this…

They have a yellow/red skin and are mild flavored.  They were developed in Washington state and are named after Mount Rainier.  They are considered to be a premium cherry. This yellowish colored fruit doesn’t stain your fingers when you’re working with them!  I loved them.  They’re pretty, and tasty and perfect for this dessert of Cherry Crumble!  Here’s how it was made:

Fresh Cherry Crumble/Crisp Recipe

makes 6 small servings
For cherry mixture

2 cups pitted, fresh cherries
2 tbsp sugar (this will produce a mildly sweet crumble. add more sugar if you like)
4 tbsp water
1 tsp corn starch

For streusel or crumb topping
3/4 cup flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
a pinch of ground cinnamon
a pinch of salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted plus more to butter baking dish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place the pitted cherries and sugar in a saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat for about 4 minutes or untill the cherries are lightly softened. Mix together the corn starch and water and add it to the cherries. Cook for about 1 minute or till the mixture thickens.

To make the streusel or crumb topping, combine the flour, brown and white sugars, cinnamon and salt together. Mix well. Then pour in the melted butter. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it forms a crumbly mixture.

Lightly butter a baking dish (I used 6 individual sized creme brulee dishes). Divide the cherry mixture among the dishes. Place the crumb topping on top and bake for 15 minutes or till the topping has lightly browned.

Who could resist this:

Have you ever used Rainier Cherries?  What did you make?  This dessert is fancy enough for a special occasion, but simple enough for a weeknight.  Good stuff!

With love from my country kitchen,