Happy Valentine’s Day: Cherry Fudge

Last weekend, I made some from-scratch fudge on a sunny day.  (That’s vital to perfect candy–a sunny day without rain or clouds.)  I’ve attempted to make fudge in the past with less-than-spectacular results.  I’ve always missed the timing on it–the last step is to beat the fudge until it just loses its gloss–and I always beat it too long.  It ends up more sugary and a bit crumbly of a texture than I want.

That’s also what happened this time–but I blame the way the recipe’s written.  The recipe says to beat the fudge for five minutes, add the cherries, then beat it one more minute before putting it in the loaf pan.  This doesn’t indicate anything about the fudge losing its gloss–it may take longer or shorter than that time.

I found this recipe online at Better Homes and Gardens, and even with my ending mistake, the fudge tastes good.  I’d add more candied cherries next time too.

Candied Cherry Opera Fudge [with my edits!]

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup half-and-half or light cream
• 1 tablespoon light-colored corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped candied red cherries
• Halved candied red cherries (optional)

1.  Line a 5-3/4x3x2-inch loaf pan with foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan. Butter the foil; set aside.

2.  Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In the saucepan combine the sugar, milk, half-and-half, corn syrup and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a boil. Clip a candy thermometer to sides of pan.

3.  Continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, stirring occasionally, until thermometer registers 236 degrees F, soft ball stage, (about 20 minutes) [EDIT:  maybe about 20 minutes, maybe shorter or longer, but don’t set a timer and walk away–when the thermometer starts going up, it will shoot up very quickly]. Adjust heat as necessary to maintain a steady boil.

4.  Remove saucepan from heat. Add butter and vanilla but do not stir. Cool, without stirring, to 170 degrees F (about 20 minutes) [EDIT: it took barely ten minutes for me–don’t leave the kitchen!!]. Remove thermometer from saucepan. Beat mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes [EDIT: beat until fudge has just lost its gloss]. Add 1/3 cup cherries. Beat mixture vigorously for 1 minute more [EDIT:  just a moment, no longer–timing’s important here]. Pour into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Let stand until firm. Use foil to lift fudge from pan; remove foil. To serve, top with additional cherries. Cut fudge into thick slices. Makes 20 servings.

Cherry-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

For this ice cream, I used some of the cherries I originally purchased to make this recipe again, which I’ve blogged about before.  I had plenty left over, so I decided to try this cherry-chocolate chip ice cream.  It ended up with great flavor, though icier than I expected.  I wonder if it was because the room was too warm when I put it in the ice cream freezer, or if the ingredients hadn’t fully cooled down enough.  I also added 2 T vodka to this recipe, to make sure it is scoopable (since alcohol acts as an antifreeze), though that didn’t seem to work here.  I might add more alcohol next time, and also make sure the ingredients are cold.

Cherry-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (from Simply Recipes)

• 1 1/2 cups pitted sweet cherries
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 3/4 cups cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 T Amaretto, cherry liqueur, or rum (optional–I used vodka)
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine, kept in freezer until used

1. Put cherries, milk, 1 cup cream, sugar, and salt into a saucepan.  Heat on medium until mixture is steamy, lower heat to warm and let sit 15 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Puree with immersion blender or in blender.
2. Put mixture into large bowl, add 3/4 cup of cream, chill several hours until completely cold.
3. Stir in lemon juice and alcohol.  Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
4. Fold in chopped chocolate.  Place in container and in freezer for several hours.  Makes about 1 quart.

Cherry Clafouti

I made this recipe as a way to continue using the pound of sweet cherries I bought at the market last week. This is pretty much a puffy pancake with cherries in it. It’s really easy–almost every ingredient is something most people have on hand, and it’s really just mix and bake. That’s it. Plus it tastes great; eggy, tangy from the cherries, and sweet from the powdered sugar on top.

 

Cherry Clafouti (from Simply Recipes)

• 2 cups pitted, sliced sweet cherries
• 2 T slivered almonds (I didn’t have this and it was fine without)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsp Amaretto OR 3/4 tsp almond extract (I used the latter)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour a 9×9 or a 10×7 baking dish. Toss in cherries and almonds.
2. Whisk together next five ingredients until smooth.
3. Add next three ingredients, whisk until smooth, pour into baking dish.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool. The clafoutis will have puffed up and will deflate while cooling. Dust with powdered sugar to serve. Serves 6.

 

Cherry-Walnut Compote

Last week, I bought some amazing sweet cherries at the farmer’s market, and used some of them for a frozen yogurt that I blogged about earlier.  I had thought I was only buying enough to cover my needs for the yogurt, but I grossly overestimated and ended up only using about half of the cherries for that recipe.  So, I needed to use them up before they went bad–I couldn’t stand to waste these berries.  I found another recipe on Simply Recipes that sounded great to try, and also could be an interesting combination with chicken, pork, or turkey.  Sausage, possibly, as well.

Cherry-Walnut Compote (from Simply Recipes)

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp minced shallots (can sub red onion)
• 2 1/2 cups pitted sweet cherries, quartered
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 Tsp minced fresh rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup Port, red wine, kirsch, cassis, or cherry juice (or water)
• 1 Tbsp honey

METHOD

1 Heat the olive oil in a pan in a frying pan on medium high heat. Add the shallots and sauté until they just begin to color on the edges, about 2-3 minutes. Stir a few times while they’re cooking.

2 Add the walnuts, rosemary and cherries and stir everything to combine. Turn the heat down to medium and cook until the cherries are soft, about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little black pepper and taste for salt.

3 Pour in the Port, wine, kirsch or cassis and the honey, and stir again. Boil this down slowly until the softening cherries and the liquid cook down to a syrupy texture.

Makes a couple cups, enough to accompany meat dish for 4 to 6 people.

I substituted vegetable oil, red onion, dried rosemary, and water for the Port.  I don’t feel any of those substitutions hurt the dish, though–it came out delicious.  Even my fiancé–who is picky about eating fruits and vegetables–though it was good.  I was left with plenty, I would definitely say it can serve more than 4-6 especially since not very much compote is needed with meat.  I served it with grilled chicken and it was excellent.  I highly recommend it, possibly even more than I recommended the frozen yogurt.

Cherry Frozen Yogurt

I’ve been having fun this summer with my new Cuisinart ice-cream maker.  I’ve already made several things with it, so I was excited to find a cherry frozen yogurt recipe posted to Simply Recipes.  I’ve never known what to do with sweet cherries (I usually just work with sour cherries for baking and in pies), but this recipe gave me an idea.

I was lucky enough to find some excellent cherries last week at the farmer’s market.  I had bought some from a different vendor the week before, which were good, but these cherries are clearly superior.  They are twice as big, a darker red color, and are also much milder in flavor.  Here’s the recipe (thanks, Simply Recipes!):

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups pitted fresh cherries
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet the cherries and how sweet you want your frozen yogurt to be)
• 1/4 cup whole milk (can substitute half-and-half or cream for creamier version)
• 1 1/2 cups full fat yogurt (if you are using non or low-fat yogurt, add 2 Tbsp heavy cream)
• 2 Tbsp almond liqueur such as Amaretto (optional)

METHOD

1 Place the pitted cherries, lemon juice, and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. While the mixture is heating, use a potato masher to mash up the berries in the pot which will release some of their moisture. When all of the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Place contents in a blender and pulse until smooth.

2 Mix cherry purée, milk, and yogurt together in a bowl. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour; the longer the mixture chills the better (can chill overnight).

3 Right before processing in an ice cream maker, add the almond liqueur if using. The alcohol in the liqueur will help keep the frozen yogurt smooth, but it is not necessary. Process the mixture in your ice cream maker for 25 minutes.

You can eat it right away (it will be rather soft) or put it in the freezer for a few hours to harden up a bit.

Makes a little more than 1 quart.

Cherry mixture, before chilling

Because of what I had on hand, I ended up doing the recipe with skim milk, but I don’t taste a difference (but then again, I also prefer skim milk).  I did use full-fat yogurt, though, and Amaretto.  I don’t have a cherry pitter, which might have made the prep process easier, but I was able to use a paring knife carefully so the lack of the gadget didn’t slow me down.  In all, this was an easy-to-follow recipe with spectacular results.  I highly recommend this recipe and hope that sweet cherries are still in season so you can get some and try it.