Cherrystrata Recipes

CHERRY STRATA

Steps:

• .::|| Cherry Strata ||::.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Grease 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan.
• Place 8 cups of the bread cubes in prepared pan.
• In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and extract until smooth. Stir in pecans and cherries (or cranberries). Spoon over bread and top with remaining bread cubes.
• In mixing bowl, whisk eggs, cream, cinnamon and remaining sugar. Pour over bread.
• Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes 350°F, or until browned.
• Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Top individual servings with Cherry Syrup.
• .::|| Cherry Syrup ||::.
• Combine cherries, sugar and corn syrup in small saucepan.
• Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in extract. Serve warm over strata.

CHERRY STRATA

Steps:

• Place 8 cups bread cubes in a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. In a bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and extract until smooth. Stir in cherries and pecans; spoon over bread. Top with remaining bread cubes. , In a bowl, whisk eggs, cream, cinnamon and remaining sugar; pour over bread. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. , For syrup, combine cherries, sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in extract. Serve warm over strata.

CHERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• Prepare crostata dough: Sift 2 1/2 cups flour.
• Place flour, butter (minus 1 tablespoon), sugar, salt, and lemon zest in food processor.
• Pulse until mixture is moistened and crumbly.
• Add egg yolks and pulse until mixture just begins to form a ball of dough. (Crust can be mixed by hand if you do not have a food processor).
• Remove dough and flatten into a disk.
• Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Unwrap dough and place it on a floured work surface.
• I have a little better luck rolling out the dough if I let it come back to room temperature a bit.
• Roll out crust into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.
• Transfer circle to a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Using a fork, prick holes in the crust about 5 or 6 times.
• In saucepan over low heat, warm cherry (or strawberry) jam with remaining 1 tbsp butter.
• Spread warm jam in a thin layer over the crust, leaving about 1 1/2 to 2 inches around the edges for a border.
• Spread fresh cherries over the jam.
• Fold the outer edges of the dough over the fruit, leaving about a 6-8 inch circle of the cherries showing in the middle.
• I turned the halved cherries that were visible in the middle skin side up to make the crostata look a bit more uniform.
• Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
• Let cool.
• Dust with powdered sugar if desired, and serve.

CHERRY TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C
• For the pastry: Put the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter pieces, and pinch with the fingers to create a crumb texture. Make a well in the middle, and add the eggs. Quickly work in the flour mixture to create dough. Do not over-mix. Pat into a disk and refrigerate 15 minutes before rolling out. Fit into a 9-inch tart pan.
• For the filling: Arrange the cherries in the crust. Beat the eggs with the sugar, and then stir in the creme fraiche and vanilla. Pour the custard over the cherries. Bake until set, about 25 minutes. Cool before serving.

CHERRY TART

Steps:

• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out to a 12-inch round, a bit less than 1/4 inch thick; fit in a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line shell with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fill with pie weights. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk together milk and egg yolks in a glass measuring cup. Add milk mixture to the saucepan, along with butter. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Let boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
• Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and immediately whisk in 4 teaspoons cherry liqueur. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Just before using, whisk until smooth.
• Fold whipped cream into chilled pastry cream and transfer to cooled tart shell. Working from the outside in, shingle cherries in concentric circles to cover completely.
• Heat preserves in a small saucepan over medium heat until warm. Add remaining teaspoon kirsch and stir to combine. Brush mixture over cherries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

SOUR CHERRY CROSTATA

Steps:

• Make pastry dough:
• Beat together butter and 1/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon beaten egg, chilled, for egg wash and beat remaining egg into butter mixture, then add vanilla, beating well. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour, salt, and zest until mixture just forms a dough.
• Halve dough and form each half into a 5- to 6-inch disk. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Make filling:
• Heat butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then add fresh or frozen cherries with any juices and sugar and simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. (Cherries will exude juices.) Continue to simmer until cherries are tender but not falling apart, about 8 minutes. Stir together water and cornstarch to form a thick paste, then stir into simmering filling and boil, stirring frequently, 2 minutes. Cool filling quickly by spreading it in a shallow baking pan and chilling until lukewarm, about 15 minutes.
• Assemble and bake crostata:
• Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining piece chilled) between 2 sheets of wax paper into a 12-inch round. Remove top sheet of paper and invert dough into tart pan. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch and fold inward, then press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Chill tart shell. Roll out remaining dough in same manner and remove top sheet of paper, then cut dough into 10 (1-inch-wide) strips and slide dough, still on wax paper, onto a baking sheet. Chill strips until firm, about 5 minutes.
• Put a foil-lined large baking sheet in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Spread filling in chilled tart shell and arrange 5 strips 1 inch apart across filling, pressing ends onto edge of tart shell. Arrange remaining 5 strips 1 inch apart diagonally across first strips to form a lattice with diamond-shaped spaces. Trim edges of all strips flush with edge of pan. Brush lattice top with reserved beaten egg and sprinkle crostata with remaining tablespoon sugar.
• Bake crostata in pan on baking sheet in oven until pastry is golden and filling is bubbling, about 1 hour. (If lattice and edges look too brown after 30 minutes, loosely cover with foil.) Cool crostata completely in pan on a rack, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, to allow juices to thicken.

CHERRY BRUSCHETTA

Steps:

• Heat the grill to its highest setting. Cut the ciabatta into 12 slices, then brush each slice on both sides, with a little extra virgin olive oil. Grill the bread for 2 mins each side.
• Spread over the ricotta. Pit and halve the cherries and arrange them on top of the bruschetta with the prosciutto. Drizzle over some more olive oil to serve.