Bing Cherry Coffeecake with Chocolate-Pecan Streusel

I always try to teach—in my classes…through m blog—that a large part of learning to cook well is finding and honing a few basic, reliable and versatile recipes.  You should make these basics so often that you can practically make them in your sleep.  It might seem like this approach to food preparation might be boring…or limiting.  But it isn’t.  It is actually liberating.  The repetition will hone your skills in the kitchen.  And it will actually make you more adventurous as you recognize the patterns and techniques you have learned when you encounter them in new recipes (which will in turn give you confidence to try them).  French home cooking—as I learned it—leans heavily on this idea of learning a slate of basic tried and true recipes and then expanding your repertoire out from this core.  Julia Child called this style of cooking “theme & variation.”  

My short crust pastry is one of these foundational recipes in my kitchen.  When approaching a new recipe for a tart, pie or turnover, unless there is a compelling reason to use another recipe for the crust (maybe the dough needs an alternate flour/grain…or a very specific textural result that my recipe doesn’t provide is required…etc), I just substitute my own dough.  This leaves me free to focus on the part of the recipe that is new to me…and gives me a leg up on having a successful result.

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you are probably aware that this is the way I approach cooking in general. I have posted several kinds of quiche…all with the same custard ratio.  Many ice cream recipes have appeared—all with the same basic formula underneath their varied flavors.  And so on.  

It will probably come as no surprise then that many of my coffeecake recipes are frequently variations on one basic, simple cake: a rich, sour cream cake that is itself a variation on the classic American 1-2-3-4 cake (1 c. butter, 2 c. sugar, 3 c. flour, 4 eggs.).  I shared it first in a Pear & Walnut Coffeecake.  It has since popped up (almost unchanged) in a Pineapple Upside-down Cake and a Peach Streusel Coffeecake.  And it has been the springboard for variations that eventually became Coconut Coffeecake, Piña Colada Cupcakes, Rhubarb Upside-down Cake and Chocolate Coffeecake with Browned Butter Streusel (to name a few).

A few weeks ago, after poking around on line a bit searching for a streusel coffeecake that suited my pantry and finding nothing appealing, I remembered that I already had a delicious recipe that I could use…and that I was pretty sure would turn out well.  Just like the pear coffeecake…and the peach one…I wanted a coffeecake that used the abundant fruit of the moment.  This time it was Bing cherries (not only was I almost out of coffeecake at the time…I had purchased too many cherries for some reason).  I love Bing cherries with chocolate…so I wanted a little chocolate in the cake.  My basic recipe was able to accommodate all of these things easily.  It was a no brainer to make it.  

If you make it…I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  The basic cake—underneath the cherries and chocolate—might even become one of your favorite basic recipes.     

Bing Cherry & Chocolate-Pecan Streusel Coffeecake

1/2 c. all-purpose flour (60g)
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. pecans (60g), lightly toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 c. chocolate chips (85g)

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (200g)
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
8 T. (1 stick/114g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. sugar (200 grams)
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sour cream (242 grams)
360g (about 2 1/2 c) Bing (or other dark, sweet cherry) cherries, stemmed, pitted and halved

To make the topping, combine the first four ingredients in a small bowl, rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients. Fold in the pecans and chocolate chips and chill until ready to build the coffee cake.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 to 3 minutes using a stand mixer).  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream in two additions.  Spread the batter in a greased and floured 13- by 9-inch baking pan. Arrange the cherry halves, cut side up, over the batter so they are relatively evenly spaced.  

Scatter the topping evenly over all.  Bake in a 350° oven until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean—35 to 45 minutes. 

Note: This cake freezes beautifully. If you want to have a slice for breakfast every morning, portion the whole cake and freeze the individual portions in an airtight container or in a single layer in a Ziplock freezer bag. A piece can be thawed in the microwave (medium power) or you can let it thaw overnight. To do this, before you go to bed, take out a slice, set it on a plate and cover it tightly with plastic to conserve the moisture as the cake thaws.

Printable Version

Bing Cherry Ice Cream

The end of sweet cherry season always creeps up on me.  Sweet cherries have a long summer run.  They begin to show up in my grocery store sometime in June.  During most years I can expect to be able to find them through the end of August (and if we’re lucky, into early September).  But it is never wise to count on being able to get any kind of fresh produce at the very beginning or tail end of their normal season.  (Produce like this should be treated as an enjoyable surprise!)  Several years ago I told a mildly harrowing story about promising rhubarb on the early end of its season.  I almost got into some difficulty this year because I promised Bing cherry ice cream to a client at the tail end of the cherry season.

I was aware I was cutting it close, but I had seen cherries in the stores and the dinner was coming up soon, so I went ahead and suggested Profiteroles with Sweet Cherry Ice Cream as the finish to a French-inspired menu.  As insurance I purchased them the minute I saw some in the store, knowing I could make the compote to flavor the ice cream ahead. 

I was so glad I did!  Overnight the cherries seemed to disappear from the stores.  I have never been so keenly aware of something being available in abundance one day…and gone the next.  Even though I had my cherries—and had made the compote—I kept looking (weirdly fascinated by my close call). 

As it turned out, even if I hadn’t been thinking ahead, I would have been ok (well maybe not ok…I would have shortened my lifespan a little from stress…).  The last store I shopped at for my dinner had a handful of bags (literally four or five) of plump, beautiful cherries.  I purchased some just because I could.

Consequently I got my own enjoyable surprise with those end-of-season cherries because I used those extra cherries to make some ice cream for myself over the Labor Day weekend.  I even had enough cherries to make more of the compote to use as a sauce.  But even without the extra compote, this ice cream is a delicious cherry treat.  Good all by itself…or maybe with a little chocolate sauce…

I do hope there are still a few cherries left out there so that anyone reading this who wants to make cherry ice cream can.  But if not, there’s always next year.  And if you happen to see some cherries, but don’t have time to make ice cream, you can always make the compote ahead and refrigerate it (up to a week) or freeze it (you can have fresh cherry ice cream in January!) until you are ready to use it. 

Bing Cherry Ice Cream

1 lb. Bing Cherries (about 3 cups), halved and pitted

6 T. (75 g.) sugar

1/2 T. lemon juice

2 T. brandy or kirsch

2 c. cold heavy cream

1 c. whole milk

8 egg yolks

1/3 c. sugar

a pinch of salt

1/8 t. almond extract (optional)

1/4 c. honey (3 oz.)—see note

Prepare the cherries:  Place the cherries in a wide sauté pan set over medium high heat.  When the cherries begin to steam and sizzle quietly, add the sugar and lemon juice and shake to distribute.  Cook the cherries at a brisk simmer—stirring occasionally with a heat-proof spatula—until the cherries are tender and beginning to break down a bit and the juices are beginning to thicken—about 5 minutes.  Add the brandy and bring back to a simmer—cooking until the juices have thickened again...perhaps a minute or two.  Remove from the heat, and let cool briefly.  Transfer the compote to a food processor and process to the desired texture (I like mine chopped fairly fine.)  You should have a generous cup of compote.  Chill.

Prepare the custard: Place one cup of cold cream and the cold cherry compote in a medium-sized bowl and place in the refrigerator to keep it cold. 

Place the milk and remaining cup of cream in a medium-sized, non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil.  While the milk mixture is heating, whisk the egg yolks with the 1/3 c. of sugar and the salt until thick.  When the milk boils, temper the egg yolks.  Stir the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan and place the pan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the custard begins to thicken and a path forms when you draw your finger across the custard-coated back side of the spoon—an instant-read thermometer will read about 175°.  Immediately strain the custard into the bowl of cold cream and compote. Stir in the honey…and extract, if using.  Refrigerate (or place in an ice bath) until cold, stirring occasionally.  Cover and chill deeply (this will take several hours).

Finish the ice cream:  Freeze the cold custard in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Transfer to a freezer container and freeze for at least an hour or two (and preferably overnight) before serving.  Makes 5 cups cherry ice cream.

Notes: 

• If you prefer, you may replace the honey with sugar. I like the texture the honey gives to an ice cream…but if you don’t like the flavor, or don’t have any, you don’t have to use it. Instead, use a total weight of 150 grams (3/4 c.) sugar in the custard. Put half of it in the yolks (as directed in the recipe) and add the remaining half to the 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup milk while they are heating.
• For an extravagant cherry dessert, make a double batch of compote. Process half of it for the ice cream and use the unprocessed portion that remains as a sauce for your ice cream.
• If you have never made custard style ice cream, take a minute to read my basics post so you will have good success.

Printable Version

Pork Chops with Bing Cherries

Bing cherries are one of my favorite summer foods.  Juicy, sweet, easy to eat out of hand...they are a perfect snack.  Occasionally in my kitchen a few of them will find their way into a batch of scones...or a cake...or a tart....  But mostly, I don't cook with them—I just want to enjoy them raw.

That said, one way I do enjoy Bing cherries in their cooked form is in a compote.  I usually think of a Bing cherry compote as being something for dessert...to spoon over vanilla ice cream...or accompany a slice of pound cake.  But not always.  A few years ago I ran across a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks for pork tenderloin with Bing cherries.  The cherries in this recipe are the foundation of a reduction sauce that is really just a savory compote....and it is truly delicious with the pork.  Best of all, if you are willing to pit a few cherries, it is a fast and easy center piece for a simple summer meal (just roast some potatoes...or make some rice or couscous...and blanch a green vegetable ... and you have dinner). 

I have made only one change to the original recipe.  I use boneless pork loin chops instead of pork tenderloin.  I'm not a huge fan of pork tenderloin.  It tends to be a bit dry (because it is so very lean)...and its tapered shape makes it so that it is difficult to cook to a uniform doneness.  Either the narrow portion will be overcooked and dry, or the fatter end will be too undercooked for most people's liking.  Pork loin chops don't have any of these problems.

While on the subject of doneness, I would like to make a case for cooking pork to a lower temperature than the traditionally recommended 145° to 160° F.  The trichinae parasite which for many years was associated with pork has been virtually eradicated in the U.S.   Even if you did have in your possession a piece of pork harboring this parasite, cooking the pork so that it reaches (and maintains for a few moments) a temperature in the range of 135° to 140° F will eradicate the parasite.  (If you are interested in the technical details, there is a lot of information on this USDA site.).  When I cook pork, I aim for an internal temperature between 130° and 135°.  The temperature will continue to rise as the meat rests, stopping somewhere between 135° and 140°.  Cooking to this lower temperature range will result in a nice juicy piece of meat.  Pork with a final internal temperature much over 140° can be pretty dry.

Finally, I want to draw attention to the section of the recipe concerning pan size.  It's very important that the pan be large enough to hold all of the halved cherries in a single layer.  If the cherries are piled on top of one another (in a smaller pan), they will overcook and fall apart while the port and vinegar are reducing.  While I'm sure this would taste fine, it wouldn't be nearly as beautiful on the plate.  It is much better to use two pans than try to crowd everything into one. 

The original recipe for this dish is large, and I should admit that in practice, I almost never make the full recipe.  At home I am only feeding two...and neither of us are very big meat eaters.  We find that one 8 oz. pork chop is sufficient for us...and as long as I prepare a one third recipe of the sauce to go with our one chop (sliced and divided between two plates), we are more than satisfied.  I mention this for a couple of reasons:  First, to show that the recipe is quite flexible...that it can be easily altered to suit your family's needs....and secondly, to point out that all the pictures for this post were taken with these altered quantities (i.e. 1/6^th recipe of pork...and 1/3^rd recipe of the sauce).

If you have never had Bing cherries—or any of the other dark, sweet varieties that fill the markets during cherry season—in a savory preparation, you should definitely give this recipe a try.  I think that you will find this to be a dish that you will want to revisit each summer... at least once or twice. 

Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Bing Cherries

6 Boneless Pork Loin Chops (about 6 oz. each)

3 small cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

12 sprigs of fresh thyme

Salt & Cracked Black Pepper

1 to 2 T. olive oil

2 shallots, finely diced

1 T. minced fresh thyme

3 c. Bing Cherries (a generous pound), halved and pitted

2 T. sugar

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

1/2 c. port

Juice of 1/2 a lemon (or to taste)

2 T. butter

The day before you plan to serve the pork, place the pork in a non-reactive baking dish.  Add the thyme, crushing it with your fingers to release its fragrance, along with the garlic.  Rub the pork all over with the thyme and garlic.  Season generously with salt (about 1/4 t. per chop...more or less, to taste) and freshly cracked black pepper.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. 

Heat an ovenproof sauté pan (large enough to hold all of the halved cherries in a single layer*) over medium high heat.  Add the oil and then the pork chops.  Sear, turning once, until the chops are nicely browned.  Transfer the pan to a preheated 400° oven and cook until the chops are done to your liking (an instant read thermometer will read between 130° and 135° for medium).  Total cooking time (including the time on the stove and in the oven) will be about 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chops.  Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the chops to a platter.

While the chops rest, make the sauce: Place the pan over medium-high heat and add the shallots and thyme.  Sauté until translucent and fragrant—a minute or so.  

Add the cherries.  Cook, shaking the pan, until the cherries are beginning to sizzle.  

Continuing to shake the pan, scatter the sugar over 

and cook until melted and beginning to caramelize.  

Increase the heat to high and add the balsamic vinegar and port.  Bring to a boil and cook until thickened.  (If the cherries are tender before the sauce is sufficiently reduced.  Remove the pan from the heat and using a slotted spoon, transfer the cherries to a plate.  Return the pan to the heat and continue to reduce the sauce.)  If you are not yet ready to serve the pork, set the pan aside. 

To serve, return the pan to high heat and bring the cherry sauce to a boil, adding any resting juices from the pork to the pan (and returning the cherries to the pan, if they have been removed).  Taste the sauce and add a squeeze of lemon juice if the sauce is overly sweet or flat in taste.  Season to taste with salt and a generous grinding of black pepper.  Swirl in the butter and spoon the cherries and their sauce over the pork (you may serve the chops whole, or slice each on a slight angle for a more elegant presentation).  Serve immediately.  Serves 6

* If you don’t have a sauté pan this large, use 2 smaller sauté pans.  Consolidate all of the cherries and reduced sauce to one of the pans for the final warming with the butter and pork resting juices.

(Recipe adapted from The Vineyard Kitchen—Menus Inspired by the Seasons, Maria Helm Sinskey)

Printable Version

Miniature Chocolate, Cherry & Almond Cakes

Sweet cherry season is here.  It is true that tart cherries are in season as well...but tart cherry season is so brief, so ephemeral, that by the time I finish typing this post, it will be over. Sweet cherries on the other hand have a season that is abundant and long.  I look forward to it with anticipation every year and start purchasing them the minute I see them at the store.  I love them as a snack, but I also love to tuck them into all kinds of preparations, both savory and sweet. 

For several years now I have been teaching a class in June featuring items one might find in a French picnic basket.  I have always known that it is most likely that such a basket would include fresh fruit instead of dessert (sweet cherries would be perfect)...but also that a little bite of a sweet baked good wouldn't be out of place.  Moreover, that little bite of dessert will make all the Americans who take my classes happy.  The chocolate, sweet cherry and almond mini cakes that I have been teaching fill the bill quite well:  They are chocolate, loaded with cherries (right in the middle of cherry season), easy to pick up and eat with your hands...and developed by a French pastry chef (Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille) to boot.

Aran Goyoaga's original cake (prepared by me...)
--a delicious...and cute!...little cake...

I like these little cakes a lot, but have always intended to change the recipe just a bit.  Even for my mild chocolate preferences, they are never quite as chocolate-y as I would like.  Furthermore, as cute as the whole cherry is—perched jauntily on top of each cake—it always seems to give people pause as they consider how to go about eating it.   Since I was scheduled to teach this class twice this year, I thought I would take the time during the interim between the two classes to work on a new version.

My altered recipe needed to meet several goals.  First, I wanted to keep all of the things I loved about the original—the method of incorporating the almond paste (more on that later), the use of fresh sweet cherries in combination with chocolate and almond, and the size and nature of the cake (it had to be packable and suitable for eating with your fingers).  Beyond all of this I wanted cakes that were more intensely chocolate (but not so overpowering in this regard so as to lose the flavors of the almonds and cherries) and I wanted them to be decorated in some simple way that advertised the presence of sweet cherries.

The cake I made met all of my goals.  Using more chocolate to get a deeper chocolate flavor was an obvious move.  Then, increasing the butter and adding sugar (the original recipe had no sugar other than what was already present in the chocolate and almond paste) gave a moister, denser texture.  The final cake is a bit like a cherry and almond brownie.  I'm not sure it would meet with French approval....but for Americans who for the most part are in love with fudgy brownies, the new version will probably seem just about right.  As for the garnish, I replaced the whole cherry with a scattering of chopped cherries and a shower of finely minced almonds and Turbinado sugar.

I mentioned that I liked the method Goyoaga used to incorporate the almond paste.  If you have ever baked a cake that used almond paste you have discovered that it can be difficult to work almond paste into the batter smoothly.  For a creaming method cake you can use the power of a stand mixer to beat the paste with the sugar and some cold butter until the almond paste has thinned and smoothed out a bit...thus enabling you to smoothly cream in the remaining butter. But since this cake uses melted butter, you can't use that method.  Instead, a small amount of the egg is worked into the almond paste to let it out.  

Once a smooth, thinner paste is achieved, the remainder of the egg and sugar can be smoothly incorporated.  This egg-sugar-almond paste mixture is then whipped until light and fluffy.  I had never encountered this technique before, and I thought it was pretty great.  You can work the initial almond paste/small amount of egg with the paddle attachment of the mixer...or even by hand with a wooden spoon. 

I was very happy with the way these little cakes turned out.  They taste strongly of chocolate and almond...but the cherry flavor comes through beautifully.  They are good warm from the oven...but are even better at room temperature or cold from the refrigerator.  They really are perfect for a picnic.  And, during the course of my testing, I discovered that the batter bakes up beautifully in an 8-inch square baking pan...producing delicious fudgy-creamy, cherry and almond brownies. So, even if you don't have a set of small ramekins, you can still make these little cakes for your next picnic.

  

Cherry, Almond and Chocolate Mini Cakes

135 g. unsalted butter (4 3/4 oz., 9 1/2 T.)

170 g. bittersweet (60%) chocolate (6 oz.)

170 g. almond paste (6 oz., 9 T.)

3 large eggs

100 g. sugar (1/2 c.)—see note

30 g. flour (1 oz., 1/4 c.)

1/8 t. salt

100 g. cherries (3 1/2 oz., 3/4 c.), pitted and cut into medium dice

3 T. finely minced almonds (20 g.), lightly toasted

3 T. Turbinado sugar (33 g)

Butter and flour 15 2 oz. ramekins and spread the ramekins on a baking sheet. 

Melt the butter and chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring until smooth.  Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the almond paste with one egg with the paddle attachment. When this becomes a smooth mixture, add the sugar and beat until smooth.  Add the rest of the eggs and switch to the whip attachment. Whip until light and fluffy—about a minute. 

Turn the machine to low and add the melted chocolate and butter. Mix until combined. 

Sift the flour over the egg-chocolate mixture, add the salt and scatter 2/3 of the cherries over the dry ingredients.  Fold everything together.

Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the 15 prepared ramekins (using about 50 grams of batter per cake).  Scatter the remaining cherry pieces over the cakes, dividing evenly.  

Combine the toasted almonds and Turbinado sugar and sprinkle a teaspoon of this mixture over each cake.  

Place the cakes in a 350° oven and bake until a toothpick inserted at the edge comes out clean, but with a few moist crumbs when inserted in the center—depending on your oven somewhere around 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool in for five or ten minutes before turning out of the ramekins.  Cool on a wire rack.  (The cakes will sink slightly in the center as they cool.)

The cakes are delicious warm, room temperature, and chilled. 

(Recipe inspired by one at "Cannelle et Vanille")

Notes:

• If you do not have any 2 oz. ramekins, you may bake these cakes in a buttered and floured standard-sized muffin pan. You may also bake all of the batter in an 8-inch square baking pan. Butter the pan, line with parchment. Butter the parchment and flour the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into 16 to 24 bars. To cut, use a thin sharp knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry after each cut. 
• If you like your chocolate dessert super moist and fudgy, add another 25 grams (2 T.) of sugar to the batter (for a total of 125 g.)

The moist, fudgy version (with 25 grams extra sugar)
...made in an 8-inch square pan

Printable Version

I have recently become reacquainted with an old friend:  a drop scone recipe.  I favored this scone for years prior to being introduced to the marvelous Cream Scone.  It is a sad fact that in cooking...as with anything I suppose...when we discover something new and wonderful, we often abandon the old....even though the old might have been pretty wonderful too.  Having rediscovered it, I would like to introduce others to this old friend—given new life from the introduction of fresh sweet cherries—that in its own way is just as special and worthy as the cream scone that supplanted it.

My rediscovery came about because of an email I received from a friend who is spending her summer in the Pacific Northwest.  It has apparently been a banner year for cherries and she was wondering if I thought cherries might work in the cream scone recipe...or perhaps if I even had a special fresh cherry scone recipe. 

Unfortunately I didn't think I had a recipe for a scone that would handle the addition of fresh fruit.  The cream scone  dough is somewhat stiff and even if you were able to incorporate fresh fruit into the dough without crushing the fruit, it seemed to me that the water released during the baking process would make the resulting scone kind of gummy. 

I then remembered the drop scone recipe.  It is from a little book called Biscuits & Scones by Elizabeth Alston.  This particular scone incorporates a marbled swirl of a thick dried apricot compote.  It occurred to me that my friend could make a fresh cherry compote (well-reduced...slightly thicker than the one I added to my semifreddo) and use it in the same way in this recipe.

She tried it....and liked it...but reported back that she was really wanting scones that were punctuated with juicy chunks of fresh cherries rather than cooked cherries.  Also, in the interim she had found a recipe for fresh cherry scones and had tried it too.  She was surprised that the recipe worked...that the cherries didn't flood the scones with juice.  She emailed the recipe to me so I could also try it.  As I examined it I was struck by its similarity to my drop scone recipe.  There were also some big differences, but the similarities were enough to make me want to try my old recipe—which I knew to be a good basic recipe—to see how it would work with chunks of fresh cherries. 

They turned out beautifully....light, crusty, tender, moist and studded with chunks of juicy cherries.  I am a bit stumped as to why the cherries don't make the scone soggy or gummy...but they don't.  I can think of several reasons why this might be the case...but in the end, I feel I should admit that I am only making an educated guess. 

As I have thought about it, the first thing that strikes me is that these scones have an unusually high amount of egg.  This gives them a lot more structure than a typical scone and more of an ability to absorb extra moisture.  As an aside, this large quantity of egg could make for a dry scone.  But, there is also a higher percentage of butter in these scones which I imagine is responsible for counteracting the drying effect of the eggs. 

The other thing that is different about these scones is that you are directed to freeze them before you bake them.  It is possible to successfully bake just about any scone from frozen, but for these particular scones it seems to be a necessary step.  The mixing method is a bit unusual and I think tends to develop a bit more gluten than is desirable.  Chilling—or freezing—the formed scones will allow the gluten to relax and as a consequence you will get a more tender scone.  When fresh fruit has been added to the dough, I think the freezing step has an added benefit:  Because the fruit goes into the oven at a much lower temperature, it will necessarily spend less time at temperatures high enough to cause it to begin to break down.  Right about the time the cherries get hot enough to begin to soften and give up their juices, the scone is done baking. 

But, as I said, this is mostly conjecture.  However, because I think the freezing step is integral to the success of these scones, I wouldn't omit it...tempting as that might be.  I love the fact that I can make these, freeze them, and then bake one—or two—whenever the mood strikes.  Also, the freezing step makes them the perfect thing to make ahead in preparation for house guests. 

For those who love my cream scones, don't worry, I love them too and will not be abandoning them anytime soon.  If I want a "quick" scone—one that I can mix and bake on the spot and is amazingly delicious to boot—I will always choose to make cream scones.  But, if I want an incredibly delicious fresh cherry (or fresh apricot!) scone, I will be making these from now on.   

With chunks of fresh apricots and topped with pistachios....

Sweet Cherry & Almond Scones

175 to 200 g. (a heaping cup) Bing cherries (or other sweet red cherry)

340 g. (3 c.) All-purpose Flour

1 T. Baking Powder

1/2 t. Salt

1/2 lb. Unsalted butter, at room temperature

100 g. (1/2 c.) Sugar

3 large Eggs, lightly beaten, just until broken up and smooth

1/2 t. Almond extract

80 g. (1/3 c.) Plain yogurt (or buttermilk)

60 g. (2/3 c.) sliced almonds

Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Pit the cherries.  Halve and quarter them. Cut the quarters crosswise.  Your goal is 1/3- to 1/2-inch chunks of cherries—small enough to be well-dispersed in the dough, but large enough to be discernible chunks of sweet cherry in the baked scone.  Set aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.  Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes).  Add the eggs in 5 or 6 additions, beating until incorporated after each addition and stopping to scrape down the bowl once or twice.  

The eggs are added in small increments so that they will
emulsify smoothly and completely into the butter sugar mixture.

Beat in the almond extract.  Blend in half of the dry ingredients.  Add the yogurt, mixing just until blended.  Add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl, followed by the cherries.  

By hand, fold just until the flour is absorbed and the cherries are evenly dispersed.  

Using a 1/3 or 1/4 cup capacity ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Using a spoon or rubber spatula, flatten the scones slightly.  

Sprinkle each generously with the almonds and then the sugar.  

Loosely cover with plastic wrap and freeze until hard.  Cut the parchment in between the scones and place the scones (attached to their  parchment squares) in a freezer bag.  Freeze for up to 6 weeks. 

To bake, place as many scones as you like on a baking sheet (spaced evenly, 2 to 3 inches apart) and bake in the upper third of an oven preheated to 375°F until golden and springy to the touch—about 25 minutes.  Transfer the scones to a rack, cool slightly and serve.  Makes 12 to 14.

(Adapted from Biscuits and Scones by Elizabeth Alston)

Notes & Variations:

• I have made these with as few as 150 grams of cherries (a level cup) and as much as 200 grams (a generously heaped cup).  I think 200 grams is the maximum amount of fruit the scones will hold...more than that and they will tend to be a bit damp.
• Apricot and Plum Variations:  Replace the cherries with 6 oz. of fresh apricots or plums (2 or 3)—pitted, sliced and then cut into a 1/3- to 1/2-inch dice.  If you like, replace the almond extract with 1 t. vanilla.  Top the apricot scones with finely chopped pistachios and the plum with lightly toasted (and skinned) chopped hazelnuts.

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