Lambert Cherry Tart

Fresh Lambert Cherry Tart

I recently journeyed to Jefferson, OR to celebrate a friends birthday.  We had a lovely weekend of drinks, good food, friendship, croquet, and fireside chats.  One of her trees was crammed with these bright red jewels.  Mid to late June is fresh cherry season here and the road-side stands, farmers markets, and stores are full of offerings.  For me, fresh cherries mean that summer is finally here.  She offered some up and I was happy to raid her orchard before the drive back home.  What a delight it was to drag out a ladder and pick these fresh from the tree.  By the time they were pitted I had roughly one pound (about a quart)  of fresh Lambert cherries.  They are delicious sweet/tart with a great crisp texture.

Next I had to figure out what to do?  I've worked with cherries before and felt making a pie or galette filling (exposing them to heat of baking) would diminish their natural brightness.  In my view tart cherries are the only ones with bold enough flavor to hold up to baking.  I decided to adapt a fresh cherry tart recipe I originally found on  marthastewart.com.  Of course, being me, had to tweak it.  My first substitution was in the crust.  I used the Triple Ginger Snaps from Trader Joe's in lieu of graham crackers.  By weight I ground up a little over 5 ounces.  It was just the right amount of crumbs for the 10" spring-form I used, but the amount of butter in hindsight seems a bit excessive.  One could easily dial back to 4-5 ounces butter.  For the filling, I used vanilla extract as per the recipe, but for my taste I feel almond would be better to compliment the cherries.  For the glaze I used a blackberry jam because it's what I had.  Raspberry would have been a better choice, and also instead of diluting with water I'd recommend something a bit more acidic (i.e. a sweet Gewurztraminer or Riesling).  "Dabbing" the glaze onto the cherries after they were on the tart I viewed as a waste of time and potentially messy.  I put the glaze (cooled) and the cherries in a bowl, tossed them, and drained off any excess (yum!).  In retrospect I wish I'd have doubled the volume of the ingredients for the glaze and then let them reduce.  I was impatient and wanted to devour this as soon as I could.  DEFINITELY let this chill overnight.  The results were quite tasty.

Gingerbread Men

Christmas Eve this year was fun.   Early in the day my mother and  I did up a batch of gingerbread men blanks.  I had fun experimenting and shaping them into different poses and carving body features like "abs" onto them.  Later that night I took the blanks over to my brothers house where I got the privilege of spending time with his delightful and creative kids.  We decorated them mostly with colored frosting in parchment piping bags.  I live far away from these kids and miss participating in their lives.  It was a fun way to get to know each of them a little better.  I had no idea my 13 year old niece was a fan of wrestling! 

This recipe makes enough dough for about 2 dozen cookies.  The quantities are halved from Mom's original recipe.  It really depends on the size of cutter used.  I ended up using considerably more flour than called for to get a uniform consistency and smooth texture when the dough finished mixing. I balked at the shortening in the ingredient list but now feel it contributes to an enhanced texture.  In the future I'd like to experiment and incorporate some real butter to enhance the flavor.  I'd also recommend making the dough far enough in advance to let it chill through in the refrigerator before rolling it out.  It would make them a bit more durable for shaping.  I can imagine making different hats, shoes, and other accessories to add to the fun.  The joy of these is in the making! 

Ingredients:

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3/4 C, shortening

1/2 C, granulated sugar

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3 C, AP Flour (plus extra)

1/2 Tbsp, baking soda

1/2 tsp, salt

1/2 tsp, ground ginger

1/2 tsp, ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp, ground cardamom

1/4 tsp, ground clove

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1/2 C, boiling water

1/2 C, molasses

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Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar to form a smooth monolithic paste.
2. Sift together dry ingredients and incorporate with creamed sugar mixture.  While mixing, add boiling water and molasses.  Mix until smooth texture forms. Add additional sifted flour as needed to make a smooth dough that pulls away from the bowl.  Turn out onto a plastic sheet, wrap, and chill dough for 1 hour or overnight.
3. With half of the dough at a time, roll out on floured surface with a floured rolling pin to about 1/4" thickness.  Cut desired shapes and repeat for remaining dough.  Dough pieces can be kneaded back together and re-rolled to use all the dough. 
4. Bake at 375F for about 12 min.  Remove from oven, let cool, then transfer cookies to wire cooling rack to cool completely.
5. DECORATE with frosting as desired.