The Week Sour Cherries Ruined Our Life....

From the country...

Last week we packed up all the lil' ones and headed out for our annual trip to Grimsby Ontario, to D. Smith and Son, Two Century Farms. We have been trucking to this beautiful farm for 3 years now and every year I stand there in awe. The Niagara Escarpment is breath taking.

I suffer from a little known ailment called "Eyes bigger then belly" syndrome. This ailment reared its greedy little head while I was in Grimsby. I came home with 12, 7 litre wooden baskets of sour cherries- and while Mark was trying to shove them into the car, I purchased a few baskets of apricots- just to make our already hectic lives a bit more challenging...

Goodness, we canned cherries in simple syrup, in rum and brandy. We stemmed and pitted the suckers for the freezer. We made lil' no bake cherry cheesecakes. We had compote and ate alot of them right out of the basket- finally we shoved the remaining basket in the in the freezer (on trays- pits and all!) for jam later. Oh! and a lovely apricot jam was made- and I managed to finish the currant jelly that was lurking in the fridge.

All in all lots of preserves were made, but it almost cost us our lives (not to exaggerate too much...)

Ahh.. summer..

Are you outta your cherry pickin’ mind?

From the country…

Back during the first of July, we travelled to the Niagara’s (Grimsby, to be exact) and stopped at 2 Century Farm for our annual cherry trip, in which we brought home sour cherries to preserve for the winter months. We also picked some sweet cherries for fresh eating (a little too fresh they were devoured before we returned home...) This year I decided on 10, 7-litre baskets of sour cherries, which is ultimately too many cherries for a family of four (and growing…). I was literally drowning in bright red cherry juice. I canned, pitted and froze, baked, made cherry preserves and ate the sour suckers until the very last basket was finished, it nearly broke me, but alas the deed was done and the first of the spring fruit put away (the tally being sour cherries, strawberries, and some raspberries thus far).

Bring on the peaches, pears, plums and blueberries!

Marble Cake with a Sour Cherry Glaze

From the country...

So today I succumbed to my sweet tooth and decided to make a cake. My Step Son, Eli (I know, another boy right?) is coming to the farm for March break and what can be better than a nice welcome cake? (if we don’t devour it before he arrives…)

I decided on a marble cake with a white chocolate glaze, except I didn’t have white chocolate. I did however, have a surplus of sour cherries in the freezer beckoning me to use them and so the switch was made. A sour cherry glaze is a perfect companion for a chocolate and vanilla marble cake.

I get excited when I find that recipe calls for the paddle attachment on the mixer. To me it means butter and sugar will be fluffin’ it up and all my fav recipes get a good paddling. Butter always equals love.

I found this recipe in my favourite baking book, The Martha Stewart Baking Book (I love the book, Martha not so much). Recipe as follows:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 3/4 – cup cake flour (not self rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1-cup sugar
3 large eggs room temp
1-teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3-cup buttermilk, room temp (I used watered down yoghurt)
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan; set aside. Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside In the bowl of the electric mixer with the paddle attachment beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time beating until combined. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour. Set aside one-third the batter. In a bowl, mix the cocoa with the hot water with a spatula until smooth. Add the cocoa mixture to the reserved cake batter; stir until combined.

Spoon the batters into the prepared pan in two layers, alternating with spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate to simulate a checkerboard pattern. (Mine was more freeform..) To create a marble pattern, run a knife through the batter in a swirling pattern.

Bake rotating the pan half way through, until a cake tester comes clean, 40- 50 minutes. Cool on rack for ten minutes. Turn cake out and let cool completely. Pour glaze over cake, letting it drip own the sides.

Sour Cherry Glaze

Thaw cherries (I had approx. 2 cups) keep liquid.
In a small pot bring cherries to a slow boil and add sugar (to taste)
When boiling spoon out some liquid into a cup (about a half cup) and whisk in tapioca flour 2 tablespoons (I use it instead of cornstarch)
Slowly add mixture to cherries in pot a little at a time until a soft gel forms.
Let cool slightly and pour over cake. A beautiful cake for a windy, wet Saturday dinner