I love beets!: The Pitter

Things are starting to pick up at the farmers market. I've pretty much had my fill of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries and whatever other berry is out there. So you can imagine my sheer delight when I saw cherries this weekend.

Cherries!! I absolutely luv cherries! Perfect for snacking, spitting and well, of course baking. You see where this is going, don't you?

My fav way to enjoy sweet Bing cherries (besides eaten fresh and lovely because they are just perfect the way they are) is in pie form. Cherries are just so suited for pie. They get all soft and luscious when you bake them, but they are sturdy enough not to collapse into a pool of juice. Mmm...I just drool thinking about it.

But when someone told me that they didn't like cherry pie because it was "too tart"...well! Tart? How could this be? Sour cherry pie, perhaps? But we don't even have sour cherries in California. But well, there is a cherry pie that was palatable...from a certain Mrs. Marie Callendar.

Gasp. Her again.

And now you really see where this whole thing is going. And it begins with 2 pounds of cherries and it ends in a pie. Well, a tart in this case. Because tarts are just so pretty.

But before I could give it to Mrs. Callendar where it hurts...ahem....I mean...before I could get started on my tart, I need to somehow pit all these lovely cherries. And that's where this comes in:

A cherry pitter! Or, as I called it...The Pitter! Dun, dun, dun! I mean, seriously, if I was a little cherry, and I saw this thing coming...I'd be pretty concerned. And with good reason, because this is what happens next:

Ouch!

One down...

2 pounds to go.

The Pitter is a simple, yet fascinating device. Basically, you're poking a giant hole in the cherry and popping the seed out it's butt. And it The Pitter does so with a fantastic "pop" sound! Quite exciting. Very unceremonious for the cherry.

Pit-be-gone

And yes, it can be a little slow moving. One cherry at a time. But, watching the game while pitting cherries definitely helps. You can of course opt for the 6 cherry pitter. But why? It's a box looking thing. Bor-ingggggg. Nothing like The Pitter!

Pits, everywhere!

And here's where the trouble started. The recipe called for 2 1/4 pounds of cherries, and I thought, pshhh...how is that possible. This tart shell is so tiny. There's no way they're all going to fit. I must do my part. I must snack on the cherries. The things I do for baking.

So I snacked, and snacked and snacked like the Very Hungry Caterpillar. And well, would you know it, 2 1/4 pounds of cherries actually do fit in a 9" tart shell. I mean, I'm guessing. My tart shell was not full...like maybe 1/4 pound short. No more snacking.

Oh but this tart baked up just nicely. Half full and all. (Hee hee) Well, except for the fact that the cherries were wrinkly. Gosh! And I thought these were Orange County cherries. But it was nothing that a layer of toasted almonds and powdered sugar could not disguise, and the tart was saved.

Although, it didn't really need its mini-makeover because it was quite tasty all by itself. And yes, it's slightly oozy, but it happens when you cut into things before it cools completely. (Does anyone cool things completely tho?) The cherries were juicy and sweet (not tart) and the almond cookie crust was a nice compliment. I'm still waiting on the official word from the cherry pie nay-sayer, and while it may not create a cherry pie convert, I'll just be happy to know that it out-pied Mrs. You-Know-Who.

But that's TBD.

Until then, here is the recipe for the cherry tart. It's from Suzanne Goin's Sunday Supper at Lucques, and like most of the recipes in this book, it isn't quick, but it is relatively simple. Just give yourself a day or two. The crust needs to chill (overnight, if you can), and the filling needs to cool before baking. I made a few adjustments, like added lemon zest and juice and a bit of cardamom. I also slightly increased the salt in the crust and added some to the filling.

Cherry Tart with Almond Cookie Crust
adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques

Suzanne Goin refers to this as a "Roman Cherry Tart" somehow implying that this is Italian. I don't really see the connection besides the grappa in the filling, but I used amaretto, which is Italian anyway.

Ingredients:

For the almond cookie crust:

Heaping 1/4 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup + 5 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and browned
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional, I couldn't really detect it)

Preheat the oven to 375-degrees.

Toast the almonds on a baking sheet until they darken slightly and smell nutty. About 10 minutes. Cool. Place in a fod processor with sugar and pulse to a coarse meal. Add the flour and salt and pulse again to combine. Transfer to a mixing bowl, and pour in the melted, browned butter, almond and vanilla extracts and 1 Tablespoon ice-cold water. Using a rubber spatula or fork, mix until just combined, adding more ice water if needed to bring the dough together.

Pam a 9" tart pan. Press the dough into the tart pan. Start with the sides first and then the bottom to form an even crust. Be sure to press your finger along the crease of the pan to push the crust down. Chill at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.

Prick the tart shell with a fork, and line with a few coffee filters opened out, or parchment paper. Fill the lined tart with beans or pie weights and bake 20 minutes, until lightly browned on the edges. (I like to freeze my tart crust for 30 minutes before baking, but it's up to you. I seem to get better results this way when blind baking.) Remove from oven and cool on a rack. Once cool, lift the paper and beans out of the tart.

For the filling:

1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)*
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 1/4 pounds Bing cherries, pitted
2 Tablespoons grappa, brandy or amaretto
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
1/2 teaspoon Meyer lemon zest
1/2 a Meyer lemon, juiced
pinch of salt

*a note about the vanilla bean: I used one, and honestly, I could not really taste it, which is sad because vanilla beans have such an amazing flavor. Especially when used to brown the butter in a certain Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake, also from Sunday Suppers. But here, it was just meh...what vanilla bean? While I haven't tested this with the extract, I feel that the 1 teaspoon will be enough to compensate. But you can certainly adjust the vanilla to your liking.

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and using a paring knife, scrape the seeds and pulp into a medium sauce pan. Add the vanilla pod, sugar and 1/4 cup water. Over medium heat, cook the mixture, without stirring (seriously, don't) until it's caramelized to an amber color. Once it begins to brown, you can swirl the pan to get it to brown evenly. If you use the extract and not the bean, just mix the water and sugar. You'll add the extract later.

While the sugar caramelizes, stir 1 Tablespoon water into the cornstarch to form a slurry. This will help to thicken the cherry juices.

When the sugar is brown, add the cherries and swirl. The caramel will seize, and it will be scary! But don't worry, it will re-melt nicely. Just keep stirring. Add the grappa/brandy/amaretto and turn the heat down slightly. Add the vanilla extract, if using. Add the ground cardamom, lemon juice and zest and salt. Let the cherries simmer for a few minutes until they soften. Strain the cherries over a bowl and return the liquid to the pot, and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add the slurry, stirring often and cook to thicken. Pour the liquid and cherries into a bowl. Let cool completely.

Assembly:

Fill the tart shell with the cherry filling to just below the level of the rim. (My was way below...baking while hungry is usually not a good idea.) Place the tart on a lined baking sheet and bake 1 hour, until cherries darken to a deep ruby red. Let cool 15 minutes before cutting.

If your cherries wrinkled like mine (yikes!) cover your tart with a 1/3 cup of toasted sliced almonds and a healthy sprinkling of powdered sugar. Heck, maybe you should do that anyway. It looks fancy. Oh and yes, I know the picture is sideways. But little fingers are exhausted from pressing crust, pitting cherries and mixing. Too exhausted to edit photos. Feel free to tilt your head 90-degrees to the right.