Sour Cherry Cake (Kolač sa višnjama)

This summer, it is all about sour cherries. I've been making a lot of different cakes and pies with this fruit and I even found fresh sour cherries on farmers' market for the first time since I had moved to the U.S, and that was almost seven years ago. In my older post Sour Cherry Pie I talked about how hard is to find them fresh and what alternatives are available on the market.



This is actually very popular summer cake in Serbia but I baked it to look similar to French clafoutis. Differences in recipes are not too big - Serbian version has vegetable oil, baking powder and the batter is thicker than the French one. Traditionally, in Serbia, the cake is baked in rectangle-shaped baking pan and then cut into bars. I made it round. Powdered sugar sprinkled on the top gives the cake nice look.

First fresh sour cherries found in the U.S.

You need:

3 cups pitted fresh sour (tart) cherries (alternatively, use canned or frozen)

1 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder

4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Powdered sugar for sprinkling

9-inch diameter baking dish


Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

Sift flour and mix it with salt and baking powder.

Mix eggs and sugar with hand mixer on high speed until it triples in size. Add gradually flour using kitchen spatula, then milk, vanilla extract and oil.

Pour the batter in the baking dish. Spread the cherries evenly on the top. Bake it for 1 hour.

Before serving, sprinkle the top of the cake with powdered sugar.

Sour Cherry Strudel (Pita sa višnjama)

I don't get why it is so hard to find sour cherries in the U.S. This is the season when you would expect to find them in stores or farmers' markets, but no sour cherries, only sweet... Obviously, sour taste is not popular in this part of the world. To be honest, eating fresh sour cherries is not interesting at all, but when you use them in baking magic happens.

I  was so desperate I wanted to plant a sour cherry tree in my backyard, but then I found out it could take five years to start producing fruits which it is a pretty long time and I am a very impatient person. However, there are some options on the market. In some international stores you can find them frozen, or in kompot in jars; even in regular supermarkets there are tart cherries in cans, usually in water, or, if you are lucky, in cherry syrup.

This recipe was inspired by one found in food magazine Mezze (page 95-98), with some adjustments.



You need:

1 package of phyllo dough, left at room temperature for 2 hours
2 lbs pitted sour cherries, fresh, frozen or in can, thawed and drained
1/3 cup vegetable oil
12 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of semolina

Powdered sugar for serving

Baking pan dimension of 15x10 inches



Steps:

Preheat the oven to 395F (200C).

Drain the liquid from pitted sour cherries using sieve. Open the package of phyllo dough, unroll the phyllo sheets and cover them with dampened kitchen towel, otherwise they will dry out.

Count the sheets and divide total number by 4... because you will make 4 rolls. Please don't be stressed out if you don't have the same number of sheets for each roll.

Arrange first phyllo sheet on work surface and brush it with oil using pastry brush, or you can use oil spray. Evenly sprinkle it with one tablespoon of sugar and then place another phyllo sheet over it. Do the same as you did with the first one. Third sheet brush with oil, sprinkle with one tablespoon of semolina, add 1/4 of total amount of sour cherries and then sprinkle one tablespoon of sugar over it. Leave 1/4 of sheet not covered with cherries, as it is on picture below. Start to fold phyllo layers into roll, finishing on the side of sheet not covered with cherries.

Place the roll on the baking pan. Repeat this with the rest of phyllo dough and cherries.

Brush the top of rolls with oil and put the baking pan into the oven. Bake the strudel for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. When it is done, let it rest for 15 minutes covered with kitchen towel.

Serve cut pieces with powdered sugar sprinkled on the top.

Kisses of Greta Garbo (Poljubci Grete Garbo)

Verzija na srpskom


When I saw this recipe in some old cookbook, first thing I thought was what a fabulous name for a dessert. It may sound silly, but to me these balls are really like kisses. Inside is a cherry soaked in brandy and outside is chocolate - hazelnut mix. So simple and so divine, just like the famous actress.


This old cookbook had its first edition in 1939, I guess Greta Garbo was very popular around that time.


I was thinking how names of dishes that I invented, or I think that I invented, have such ordinary, mostly descriptive names. Next time I have to come up with a creative and powerful name such as this one.

You need:

30 pitted cherries in syrup (1 can) - if they are bigger you need less (it is better to have smaller cherries beacuse the balls will be smaller)
5 tablespoons cherry brandy
200g semi-sweet chocolate chips
150g hazelnut
3 tablespoons milk
2-3 tablespoons dark rum


Steps:

Drain cherries from syrup. Place them in a small bowl, add 5 tablespoons of cherry brendy and leave it overnight. Tomorrow, drain cherries again and place them on a paper towel.

Roast hazelnut in the oven (355F/180C) for 8 minutes. Remove the skin and grind hazelnut in food processor.

Melt the chocolate, add milk and dark rum. Stir in ground hazelnut. Place this mixture in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Form the balls from the chocolate mix, then make holes and put the cherries in the center, and finally close the holes around cherries. Keep it in the fridge.