He who likes cherries soon learns to climb.

This weekend a lovely young lady is in town. We will be going to her and her partner's engagement party/her graduation/she's in town party!

As usual, I feel like I should make something. Darn the Southern/Midwestern in me. So I made a favorite of Husband's: Berry Crumble.

Cherry Berry Crumble

Ingredients

Cooking spray

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

Dash of salt

3 pounds cherries, pitted 

4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon finely chopped almonds, toasted

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Place a 9-inch cast-iron skillet in preheated oven; heat 5 minutes. Remove pan from oven, and lightly coat with cooking spray.

3. Combine cornstarch, juice, dash of salt, and cherries in a large bowl, tossing well to coat. Pour cherry mixture into prepared pan.

4. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through 1/8 teaspoon salt) in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle flour mixture over cherries. Place skillet on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 400° for 35 minutes or until filling is thick and bubbly and topping is browned. Remove from oven; let stand 20 minutes. Serve warm.

This turned out just fine. I didn't have 3 pounds of cherries unfortunately, so I cut the recipe a bit to accommodate for that and the fact that most everyone would be bring something.

It was well received by all, especially since it was more on the tart side than the sugary (but amazing) cake. It certainly needed more cherry and I enjoyed the flavor the lime that was sub'ed for the lemon. The use of a pastry cutter instead of hands would have kept the crumble more crumbly than tough. Still made it feel more like summer than a custard would have. :)

Until the next dessert...


**Today's title is a German Proverb: He who likes cherries soon learns to climb.**