cherry Archives - Wood & Spoon

Bourbon Pecan Granola

WHAT A WEEK. If you follow me on social media, you know that I’ve been having quite an exciting time these past few days. I just returned from California after a quick trip to see my friend, Bob Goff, during his Dream Big workshop. It was such a refreshing time spent with new friends, and I was reminded how encouraging it is to be around with people who are exploring new opportunities and ideas. If you are even remotely interested in learning more about the workshops hosted at The Oaks with Bob Goff, you can click here! Now that I’m back home, and excited to share a simple and comforting recipe that I’ve been playing around with lately: this bourbon pecan granola.

This bourbon pecan granola tastes like home. This morning source of crunch contains coconut, pecans, dried cherries, rolled oats, and maple syrup. The bourbon is fully cooks off during the baking. It’s flavor, however, remains in the background for anyone with a palate for it. For everyone else, flavors of caramel or butterscotch might pop out, making this granola a decadent, but not heavy, way to start your morning.

To make this bourbon pecan granola, we start by combining the dry ingredients. Toss together the oats, flaked coconut, and chopped pecans. Next, add in the melted liquid ingredients: maple syrup, brown sugar, and olive oil. Toss to combine and then bake, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is dry and golden brown. Once out of the oven, add in the chopped dried cherries and allow to cool completely. This bourbon pecan granola is best consumed within 2 weeks but can be frozen for up to 6 months in a freezer-safe container… not that it will last that long.

Happy Friday and thanks for popping by! I hope you all give this bourbon pecan granola try. 🙂

If you like this bourbon pecan granola you should try:

Eleven Madison Park Granola
Bourbon Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
Bourbon Bundt Cake
Brown Butter Bourbon Madeleines

Bourbon Pecan Granola

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

This bourbon pecan granola is loaded with flaked coconut, pecans, and dried cherries, and flavored with maple syrup and bourbon!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 5
Cook Time: 40
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 2 Quarts

Ingredients

2–3/4 cups (250 gm) rolled oats
1 cup (110 gm) pecans, chopped
1 cup (60 gm) unsweetened coconut chips
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup (100 gm) maple syrup
1/3 cup (60 gm) extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup bourbon
½ cup (100 gm) brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup (50 gm) dried cherries, chopped

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the oats, pecans, coconut chips, and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan on the stove over low heat, stir to combine the maple syrup, olive oil, and brown sugar. Stir regularly and remove from heat when the brown sugar has dissolved. Stir in the bourbon. Pour the syrup mixture over the oat mixture and stir to toss evenly. Spread the mixture out onto a large sheet pan and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Once the mixture is barely golden and dry, remove from the oven. Toss in the cherries and seal in a large bag or tupperware once cool.

Cherry Pound Cake and a Cute Breakfast Picnic

2 Comments / Cakes

Berry Pound Cake recipe by wood and spoon. a vanilla bean butter cake is swirled with Bonne Maman intense fruit spread. Similar to a jam cake, this bundt cake is perfect for slicing as dessert or breakfast and makes a great gift to treat others with. Find this simple easy one bowl recipe on thewoodandspoon.com by Kate Wood.

Happy Wednesday, friends! In a fun and tasty shoutout to these end-of-summer days, I’ve teamed up with Bonne Maman to give you the ins and outs of throwing the cutest little picnic this side of the Mississippi. If you’ve got some pals who will join in and a hankering to eat al fresco, then keep reading and whet your tastebuds for a super simple picnic and a cherry pound cake to go with it.

Location

Location for a picnic, particularly here in the South, is everything. Will people show up to your mid-day picnic if there is no shade or breeze to be found? Probably. But do you risk early departures and sweaty guests? Also a yes. Scope out a location that will be comfortable for your guests at the time of picnic and be sure to pack accordingly. For example, planning an early evening cocktail picnic? Bring bug spray or a citronella candle to ward off bugs. Going for a high-noon affair? Spring for some paper fans and pack a cooler of ice to keep beverages (and your guests!) cool.

Food

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box! I opted to throw a little breakfast picnic because I knew my crew would be awake early and eager to be outside before the heat of the day set in. Be sure to choose a theme and menu that suites the crowd you’re serving.

My number one rule of picnicking is to limit the menu to primarily semi-homemade and room temperature foods. There’s no reason to worry over the temperature of your tuna salad when your a platter of crudités would go over just as well, and you’ll save yourself tons of fuss if you opt to prepare only a select number of the menu items yourself. I like to pick up fresh fruits and bakery breads to supplement my picnic menus and limit my homemade items to one or two make-ahead treats. Cookies, bars, tea sandwiches, (or this cherry pound cake!) make great homemade options to serve your guests.

Decor

As with any party, you’ll want to set the scene, but in the case of a picnic, I prefer to keep the details simple. Here, layered quilts and blankets in complementary patterns and colors are both functional and aesthetic. Woven bags serve dual purposes, first as food carriers and then as a flower vase for a few floral stems wrapped in wet paper towels and plastic wrap. Bread boards or galvanized metal trays used as serving platters match the provincial feel of a picnic and provide a sturdy place to rest glasses or bottled drinks. Beyond a few simple items, I prefer to let fruits and vegetables spruce up the picnic with their color and natural beauty. By combining a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, simple food can turn into beautiful, seasonal decor!

Guests and Activities

A picnic is a great way to welcome loads of friends into your social calendar. Pack a few extra blankets and encourage guests to BYOB or bring a finger food for sharing to keep the work load on any one person minimal. To transform your average picnic into a full-blown event, pack a few yard games and create a custom playlist to keep your guests engaged and having a ball. Even a few decks of cards or quick board games can help to keep the mood light and entertaining.

Cherry Pound Cake

Every picnic needs a show-stopping centerpiece and this cherry pound cake is just the thing. With a dense, buttery crumb and Bonne Maman INTENSE Cherry Fruit Spread swirled throughout, this cherry pound cake is a simple dessert that will serve and satisfy any crowd. To make it, we start by creaming together butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Eggs are added next along with plenty of vanilla extract. Finally, the dry ingredients are stirred in, alternating with room temperature sour cream that moistens this flavorful cake. As the thick batter is spooned into a prepared bundt pan, we swirl in the Bonne Maman INTENSE Fruit Spread. I chose to use cherry here, but any of their varieties would work splendidly. The cake bakes up thick and lightly sweetened and tastes wonderfully in slices served plain or with a bit of butter.

Bonne Maman INTENSE Fruit Spreads contain simple ingredients and a homemade taste that work well with this cherry pound cake. With more fruit and 39% less sugar than their regular preserves, the spreads offer loads of that fresh fruit flavor that summertime picnics beg for. Plus, with time-honored recipes and real ingredients, Bonne Maman products are ones I feel good about baking into the foods that I serve to people that I love. This cherry pound cake showcases the fruit spread in an effortless yet beautiful way that really ups the ante at any gathering, especially a picnic.

Whether you plan to picnic or not in the coming weeks, I hope you’ll give this cherry pound cake a try. It’s a delicious one-bowl recipe, and I can’t imagine you all not adoring it. Many thanks to Bonne Maman for sponsoring this post, and thanks to you all for supporting brands that make Wood & Spoon possible. Give this cherry pound cake a try and let me know what you think! Happy Wednesday and Happy Baking!

If you like this cherry pound cake you should try:

Stone Fruit Skillet Cobbler

Cherry Chip Cake

Marble Loaf Pound Cake

Lemon Pound Cake Loaf

Black Forest Ice Cream Cake

Cherry Pound Cake and a Cute Breakfast Picnic

Print Recipe

This cherry pound cake is a moist butter and vanilla cake swirled with cherry fruit spread!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 55
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Yield: 10 servings
Category: Dessert

Ingredients

1 cup (230 gm) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups (400 gm) sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2–1/4 cups (350 gm) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
½ cup Bonne Maman INTENSE Fruit Spread (I used cherry)

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease and flour a bundt pan.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add about half of the flour and the baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir on low until almost combined and then add the sour cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl and then stir in the remaining flour, just until combined. Use a rubber spatula to fold in any unincorporated bits. Spoon about 1//2 of the batter into the prepared pan and then spoon about ½ of the fruit spread on top. Repeat this process with the remaining batter and spread and use a knife to barely swirl the two together. Bake in the preheated oven until the cake has risen and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes in the pan and then invert the pan onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar if desired!

Cherry Almond Galette

10 Comments / Pies and Tarts

Can I be completely transparent? I’ve been sitting at my computer for 30 minutes typing and erasing words I think I want to share with you. I keep grasping at thoughts that I’d ordinarily be able to blab about incessantly, but for some reason I’m unable to explain it in a way that makes sense. Call it writer’s block or call it Mommy brain, but I’ll just go ahead and chalk it up to a whole bunch of feels that are hard to put to words. Here’s where it all started:

I made this cherry almond galette with my daughter. Always the kitchen helper, Aimee recently discovered how much fun the cherry coring tool was. She perched herself on a kitchen stool and plucked stems off of glossy Rainiers while I punched the pits out of the fruit and into the trash. Eventually, she convinced me to let her take over, and what was supposed to be a quick hour of baking turned into a day long cherry-stained date for two in the kitchen. I love to share in special moments like this with my kids, but raise your hand if there are times you just need to get. the. job. done.

When Your Life is Not Your Own

This kind of thing happens all the time. Now, as a mother of three, I’m finding that my life and agenda are not my own. It could be because my schedule is dictated by bedtimes and breastfeeding schedules. It could be because my car, once spotless, is now littered with action figures and cereal crumbs. Even my office is slowly being taken over by a slew of broken crayons and crude drawings of rainbows and stick people. Whatever the reason, my time or my space, this season of motherhood has been one of the truest dying of self that I’ve ever experienced, so much so that my life is hardly recognizable from what it was even months ago.

“I need to know how to still be me.”

Although people always say that motherhood is instinctual, I’d argue that most of it is still really hard to figure out. Finding a balance of who I am as Kate versus who I am as Aimee, George, and Charlie’s Mom is basically an illusive teeter totter of grey area that I usually have zero clue how to navigate. Part of me feels incredibly selfish to want to maintain some semblance of self independent of my children, but the other part knows that in order to stay sane I need to know how to still be me.

So how do you do that? How do you fully embrace a new life you’ve been gifted, a life that you’ve chosen, and still maintain an identity that is even remotely recognizable? I just don’t know yet. I imagine the reality falls somewhere in-between and eventually I’ll be able to sum it up in a few words. For now it’s a mystery. I’ll fill you in if I ever figure it out, but for now, let’s just talk about the things I do know. Let’s get back to the cherry almond galette.

Cherry Almond Galette

These are seasonal cherries topped with an all-butter, almond and sugar-flecked pie crust. In between the two layers is a quick and dirty frangipane that sweetens the pastry and adds a hint of flavor and texture. Of course, you already know I made the crust with my love-you-long-time fave, Kerrygold. Their butter is unmatched when it comes to simple recipes like this, and when there is only a few ingredients to a dish you need to let each one sing. The crust is buttery and tender, and every ounce of thanks goes to that quality butter. Amen.

Making the Galette

The frangipane filling for this cherry almond galette is delicately sweetened and flavored. I think that little bit of filling helps to keep the crust from becoming soggy. Plus, the almond flavor pairs perfectly with the cherries. Although I ordinarily don’t mind using frozen fruit, I kinda insist on fresh fruit when it comes to galettes because it always bakes so beautifully. Trust me on this.

While making this cherry almond galette may appear to be tricky, it’s actually incredibly forgiving and way easier than a full pie. Simply roll out your chilled dough and spread the frangipane filling into the center. Top the filling with loads of sugared cherries. The rustic nature of a galette practically begs for messy folds of dough; don’t worry too much about precision when you crimp the edges around the fruit. Just let it come together organically and I can almost promise it will bake beautifully. After all, remember that Aimee helped me make this galette. If a four-year-old can crush it, grown-ups can too, okay?

Thank you for listening to me banter about motherhood. I hope my rambling hasn’t completely deterred you from giving this cherry almond galette a try. As always, thank you for supporting Kerrygold and other brands that make Wood & Spoon possible. I hope you’ll give their goods a try for all of your special bakes like this one. Happy Thursday and happy baking!

If you like this cherry almond galette you should try:

Blueberry Cornmeal Galette

Tomato Basil Pesto Galette

Mini Strawberry Galettes

Cherry Lime Hand Pies

Black Cherry Chip Cake

Cherry Gateau Basque

Cherry Almond Galette

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

This cherry almond galette has a sweet frangipane filling and an all-butter pie crust!

Author: Kate
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 9 Servings
Category: Dessert

Ingredients

For the pie dough:

1–1/4 cups (175 gm) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113 gm) unsalted butter, cold
¼ cup ice water
For the filling:
¾ cup (90 gm) almond meal
½ cup (100 gm) sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, beaten
4 cups (1–1/4 lbs) stemmed, pitted, and halved cherries
1–1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or bourbon
1 teaspoon orange zest, optional
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, optional
2 tablespoons sliced almonds, optional

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Instructions

To prepare the dough:

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until they are reduced to pea-sized clumps. The remainder of the mixture should look like a sandy consistency. Pour in the ice water and use the pastry cutter or a large fork to bring the dough together into a shaggy mixture. Then dump the contents of the bowl out onto a clean counter and work it into a ball of dough. Do not overwork the mixture. Flatten out the ball into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to chill for at least two hours and up to a week.

To prepare the galette:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan.
Combine the almond meal, ¼ cup sugar, vanilla, and half of the beaten egg in a small bowl into a pasty consistency. In a separate bowl, combine the cherries, remaining ¼ cup sugar, cornstarch, booze, and zest. Set aside.
Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out onto a floured surface into a 12” circle. Spread the almond mixture in the center of the circle, leaving a 2” border around the perimeter of the circle. Dump the cherry mixture on top of the almond filling. Fold the edges of the pie dough up and over the cherries, gently pressing the dough to seal on top of itself as you fold. Use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of the remaining beaten egg on top of the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the turbinado sugar and sliced almonds. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling. If you notice you crust is getting dark and the inside juices aren’t bubbling at all you can make a little aluminum foil shield to cover the dough around the perimeter of your galette. Allow to cool and set prior to slicing and serving with ice cream!

Cherry Chip Cake

13 Comments / Cakes

Happy Monday, Friends! We’re going to dive right into today’s super sassy recipe for a cherry chip cake. This cake is beautiful, seasonally appropriate, and perfect for any special celebrations you may have coming up in the next couple of months. Made with fresh Stemilt dark cherries, a simple vanilla cake, and a tangy cream cheese frosting, this cake is well-balanced and entirely satisfying. Let’s dive in!

Cherry Chip Cake

The breakdown of this cake feels really complex, but the components are simple if you take it step by step. First, we start with the cake layers. A simple vanilla cake batter made with butter, milk, and eggs folds together with miniature chocolate chips and a load of fresh chopped cherries. After, the cake layers bake up flat with a fine crumb and a mild flavor so that the chocolate and cherries can sing.

Next comes the filling! Here, a simple jammy filling comes together with more chopped cherries, sugar, and cornstarch. The filling thickens up on the stove and can save for up to a week in advance. If you happen to have any left after baking, this filling tastes wonderful over ice cream or with shortbread cookies and extra frosting.

Assembling the Cake

Lastly, the cake comes together with a simple and tangy cream cheese American buttercream that adds another element of flavor to this cherry and chocolate-rich cake. You can use a piping bag or a plastic bag with the end snipped off to pipe a dam around the border of each cake so that the cherry filling stays in its place. Alternating layers of cake with the dammed filling are stacked before the whole thing gets coated buttercream and topped with cherries.

Today’s post is sponsored by Stemilt. Stemilt is the leading Washington state grower, packer, and shipper of fruit including apples, pears, and cherries. Their website is host to a number of produce-packed recipes that are perfect for each turning season. Needless to say, I was thrilled to contribute this cherry chip cake recipe for the summer. In the coming months I’ll share two more recipes on their site. For now, please go check out and try this one! The link to the recipe is below. Happy baking to all of you and all my love in this coming week!

Click here for the cherry chip cake recipe!

If you like this cherry chip cake you should check out:

Cherry Chip Ice Cream

Black Forest Ice Cream Cake

Cherry Gateau Basque

Cherry Lime Hand Pies

Cherry Gateau Basque

13 Comments / Cakes, Pies and Tarts

I know, I know. You see the title of this blog post, and if you’re like 99% of the people on this earth, you’re like, “What the heck is cherry gateau Basque?” Well, fear not, because we’re going to get all up in this bizznazz, okay?

When You’re the Weird One.

If you do weird stuff in a small town like, say, write a food blog, people tend to notice. In my little town of Selma, AL, this is me. I am the self-proclaimed weirdo dessert lady. To be honest, if you’ve gotta be known for something in a small town, I hardly think that being the over-zealous-on-social-media-baker-chick is the worst option. You could be the guy who peed his pants at the softball field… Or the girl who got set up on a date with a distant cousin. Yikes.

The thing is, I think I have fooled people into thinking that I actually know something about food. All of my ranting and posting and sharing of desserts may give the illusion that I know what I’m doing in the kitchen all of the time, but when it comes to actual skills, I’m still very much a student, learning new recipes and techniques one bite, one failure, one stick of butter at a time.

I trick you into thinking that I know more than I do by writing 500+ words a week about layered cakes and no-churn ice cream. You think I have these worldly skills because I use words like brown butter and reference things like laminated dough and acetate sheets. But at the end of the day, I’m a girl with an oven and a screenful of edited photos that may or may not make me seem a lot more legitimate than I actually am. (Hint: they do.)

Cherry Gateau Basque

So here I am, sharing this cherry gateau Basque with you today. I’d seen it in magazines and had read about it in French novels, but up until a month ago, I’d never made one. Is it a cake? Is it a pie? Truthfully, before starting this journey, I didn’t know a cherry gateau Basque from a Pepperoni Hot Pocket. I even had to Google the pronunciation of the word, because, okay, who can pronounce stuff like “gâteau Basque” when they’ve only had five days of practice with the French language? Still, I was determined.

But, What Is It?

After a few practice rounds and a little internet research, here’s what I know about this dessert. Gateau Basque is a French dessert that originated in (duh) the Basque region. Traditionally, this dessert is filled with preserved cherries or cream and has a buttery, cake-like pastry dough surrounding the gooey filling. The dough is rolled like a pie and fitted into a cake pan before smearing on the filling and topping with an additional sheet of pastry. After baking, the cake is golden and buttery, with a smooth, glossy top and a sliver of sweet fruit peeking through each slice. I was rather unsure when I set out to make this cherry gateau Basque, but I loved the outcome so much that I’ve decided to share the results with all of you. After all, we’re learning and feeling our way through the dark together, right? So let’s dive in!

How to Make It

To make this cherry gateau Basque, we start by making the pastry dough. Room temperature butter is creamed with sugar before an egg and a yolk are added. Next, toss in the dry ingredients and stir only until the mixture barely comes together. Divide the dough in two and roll each half in between its own two sheets of parchment paper until it is thin, smooth, and just barely larger than a 9″ cake pan. Allow to chill in the fridge while the oven preheats.

When ready to bake, prepare your pan with a little butter. Carefully remove the parchment paper from one of the dough rounds and gently press it into the cake pan as if you were lining a pie tin with a sheet of pie dough. Next comes the cherry preserves. I chose a tart cherry jam, but you can use any variety that you enjoy eating. Smear the preserves just shy of the edges of the pan and top it with the second sheet of dough. Trim off any excess dough and pinch the two sheets of pasty together to keep the cherries inside. Gently smooth the top of dough with your fingers and brush with an egg wash before baking.

Serving the Cake

Once golden and slightly cooled from the heat of the oven, remove the finished cherry gateau Basque from the pan and allow it to come to room temperature. After cooling, you can decorate the cake with a dust of powdered sugar and a handful of sliced seasonal fruits like nectarines, plums, peaches, and cherries. I think a dollop of whipped cream or creme fraiche would be mega yummy here too, but go for whatever revs your motor. This cherry gateau Basque is delicious all on it’s own, no fancy toppings required.

Learning new recipes and techniques is challenging at times and it’s not without a fair share of failures. But if you find something that strikes your fancy, maybe even this cherry gateau Basque, I hope you’ll give it a try. I really think you can make this dessert, so if you’re up for rolling and filling and munching on fancy pants French desserts that trick your friends into thinking you’re a pro, this cherry gâteau Basque is 100% for you. Give it a try and let me know what you think! And don’t forget to vote for the SAVEUR blog awards! You can find me among the nominees in the “Best Baking and Sweets” category, but be sure to check out the other categories as well. Have a terrific weekend and happy baking!

If you like this cherry gateau Basque, you should try:

Cherry Lime Hand Pies

Black Forest Ice Cream Cake

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Strawberry Fig Pop-Tarts

Cherry Gateau Basque

Print Recipe

Cherry Gâteau Basque is a traditional French dessert made of two layers of pastry filled with cherry preserves. This is a cake meets pie and is perfect for filling with summer fruit!

Author: Kate Wood, Adapted from Saveur Magazine
Prep Time: 45
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

10 tablespoons (140 gm) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup (100 gm) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, divided
1 large egg yolk
2 cups (260 gm) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup tart cherry jam or preserves
1–1/2 cups of mixed fruit, cleaned and sliced for decorating

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Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the sugar, and beat for an additional 2 minutes until the mixture is fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add one whole egg and the egg yolk, beating on medium speed just until combined. Scrape the bowl and add the dry ingredients. Beat on low speed just until combined. Be careful to not overbeat.
Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough in half. Place one of the halves in between two large sheets of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into an 11” circle. Set aside and place the second dough ball in between two separate sheets of parchment paper. Roll the second dough piece into a 9” circle. Place both on a flat surface in the fridge and allow to cool for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and move a rack to the upper third of the oven. Grease the insides of a 9×2” cake pan and trim a parchment paper round to line the bottom of the pan.
Remove the dough from the fridge and allow them to sit out for a few minutes to become pliable. Peel the parchment paper off of the 11” round dough and center it into the greased pan. Gently press the dough into the bottom of the pan and around the edges. Trim off any excess, allowing the dough to travel only halfway up the sides of the pan. Spread the cherry jam in the pan, leaving a ½” border around the edges of the pan. Peel the top parchment paper off of the 9” circle and use a paring knife to trace and trim a circle the diameter of the cake pan in the dough. Transfer the trimmed dough into the cake pan and pinch the edges of the two dough pieces together to seal in the jam. You can wet your fingers lightly to pat out the dough to make it as even as possible. Don’t sweat it if your dough isn’t perfect though.
Whisk together the remaining egg with 2 teasopons of water and use a pastry brush to paint a thin layer of the egg wash over the top of the pie. Place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and set.
Allow the pie to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then carefully move a paring knife around the border of the pie to release the edges. Invert the pie onto a cooling rack and then carefully flip back over onto your serving plate. Allow to cool completely.
Once ready to serve, garnish with sliced fruit or powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Black Forest Ice Cream Cake

6 Comments / Cakes, Frozen Desserts

Guys. Please tell me I’m not the only one. Please, please tell me that I am not actually the sorriest person on the planet.

The other day, I was vacuuming the nursery when I came upon a stubborn bundle of fuzz that refused to be sucked into the vacuum even after rolling over it five or six (read: fifteen) times. Instead of tossing the fuzzie in the trash, I picked up the little guy with my toes and then dropped it back on the ground to attempt to vacuum it up from a different angle.

WHAT. IS. THAT.

What degree of laziness does one have to have if they are willing to relocate grunge on floor to avoid a short walk to the garbage can to throw it out?

[Throws hands in the air] I disgust myself.

But this is the kind of stuff that is all over my life right now. With a handful of balls in the air and more than a few hats that I wear on a daily basis, I find myself halfway-ing a good number of areas of my life. I work out, but I fail to eat right. I buy a birthday gift but forget to mail the card. I play with my babies, but get tired and end up relying on Mickey Mouse to drag us through the final hours of the day. I’m still trying to get the hang of balancing all of the things that I want to make time for and as a result, some things just don’t get the attention they require.

Between work and babies and all of the other things that end up receiving little nuggets of my time, this blog is often one of the many forgotten outcasts of my life. Since starting this little corner of the interwebz, I have had the intentions of working on a number of photography and web-based skills (computer hacking skills…nun-chuck skills…. bow-hunting skills), but that list of tasks has long been shuffled under a mound of other things. Finally, this past weekend, I set aside some time to tick a few things off of my list and I am thrilled to share the results with you.

I made a stop motion film!

Okay, I understand this is not a huge deal and I can totally hear every teenager on the planet whispering, “that’s so easy” under their breath. Also, there’s no need to point out the flaws because I totally see them. But for me, this took a bit of learning and I am so excited to have even attempted it. I’d officially like the thank The Academy, my Canon camera, and both of my babies (for napping at the same time last Saturday) for giving me the opportunity to shoot and stitch this little guy together.

You’ll see that the video is a stop motion film of the building of a naked black forest ice cream cake. Naked cakes are my favorite to make, so naturally, naked ice cream cakes are pretty much the center of my universe. I love them almost as much as I love my own children. Not really, but close.

This black forest ice cream cake was created using my favorite chocolate cake recipe and a frozen, ice cream-esque filling that I adapted from Ina Garten’s mocha icebox cake. While a traditional black forest cake is filled with Kirsch soaked cherries and lightly sweetened whipped cream, my version boasts boozy bourbon cherries (because the South, y’all!), hot fudge drizzles, and simple, creamy layers of ice cream. The whole thing is stacked together and left in the freezer for a rainy day.

You can totally shortcut any and all portions of this recipe and substitute store-bought favorites. Instead of homemade cake, try a box mix. Instead of making the ice cream filling, set a quart of your favorite grocery store variety on the counter to thaw out slightly before making the cake. I always have a jar of fudge sauce in my fridge and try to prepare the cakes the night before, so day-of labor is minimal at best.

I recommend that you read through the full list of instructions before starting. The process is simple in nature, but lengthy in detail so make sure you know what you’re doing before you get started. Also, I’ve included a couple of snapshots in this post to illustrate the two methods of building a naked cake. Have fun watching the short little movie, and I sincerely hope it inspires you to make a naked cake of your own. Happy Monday!

Black Forest Ice Cream Cake

Needed:

3 prepared 6″ chocolate cake layers (I bake a half batch of this recipe in 3- 6″ pans)

1 recipe of ice cream filling, unfrozen (see below)

1 recipe of bourbon soaked cherries (See below)

1/2 cup chocolate fudge sauce (I like this recipe, but store bought is fine)

Directions:

1. Line a 6″ cake ring with an acetate sheet collar (see notes). Alternatively, you can line the sides of a 6″ round cake pan with a collar of wax paper or parchment paper to use as a guide/mold for building your cake. This is not a necessary step, but certainly makes building your cake much easier. If using the cake pan, line the bottom with a small piece of parchment to ensure easy removal from pan.

2. Place one leveled cake layer in the bottom of the cake ring. Using a pastry brush, soak the first layer of cake with approximately 1/3 of the cherry syrup. Smooth 1 cup of the ice cream mixture over the top of the first cake layer. Sprinkle 1/2 of the cherries on top of the ice cream and then drizzle with 1/4 cups of hot fudge sauce. Repeat this process once.

3. Place the final cake layer on top of the built cake. Soak with the final third of cherry syrup and smooth 1-1/2 cups of the ice cream mixture on top.

4. Cover the cake loosely, and place in the freezer to set up for 4 hours or until firm.
5. Remove cake from freezer 10-15 minutes prior to serving for easy slicing. Uncut, the cake will keep in the freezer for 3 weeks.

Notes:

1. I use 3″ x 20″ wide acetate sheets to line my cake ring. As a result, I end up requiring two sheets total to cover the height of my cakes. See here for additional instructions on building cakes with acetate sheets.

2. If you prefer to not use acetate sheets and cake ring as a supportive mold, you can build the cake as I did in my video! Keep in mind that you have to work quickly as all that fluffy ice cream likes to squish out the sides.

Ice Cream Filling

Ingredients:

8 ounces of mascarpone cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean
2 tablespoons of good quality bourbon, optional (I use Blanton’s)

To prepare the no churn ice cream:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the mascarpone, sugar, whipping cream, vanilla and bourbon. Whip with a whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Set aside until ready to use in your cake.

Bourbon Soaked Cherries

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) of stemmed and pitted dark cherries
2 tablespoons of good quality bourbon (I use Blanton’s)
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

To prepare the cherries:

Roughly chop cherries into small bits. Place in a bowl and stir together with sugar and bourbon. Set aside for 30 minutes prior to use to allow the cherries, sugar, and bourbon to produce a syrup. When ready to use, strain the cherries from the syrup, reserving both for the cake. (Note: with this preparation the cherries freeze into icy bits of booze and fruit. If you’d prefer a sweeter, softer filling, you can cook the ingredients above with an additional 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch over low heat, stirring and smashing the cherries regularly until it has thickened to a jam-like consistency. Allow to cool before assembling with cake.)

Breakfast Danish

1 Comment / Breakfast

Brett made a scrunchy face at me and meticulously picked through the remains of his breakfast danish. “There’s a lot of fruit in here”, he said.

“Get out of the kitchen”, I replied.

I usually encourage constructive criticism when it comes to recipes and baking, but this danish had taken so much research, preparation, and use of my spare time that I wanted nothing short of glowing reviews. My husband, though, sometimes a bit more honest than my pride can bear, had already given away how he really felt about the pastry that contained hours of my love, sweat, and flour. He went on the lament of all of the “raisins” in the danish, even as I repeatedly confirmed to him that they were dried cherries.

“CHERRIES. They are dried cherries. It’s legitimately dried fruit soaked in bourbon and then baked into a delicious, flakey crust. How is that ever a bad thing? Explain. Now.”

I usually try to heed most of my husband’s likes and desires but this was one instance where the degree to which he was wrong was no match for how oh-so right the pastry was.

At the start of this year, we visited Blackberry Farm in Walland, TN. I high recommend it. Anyone who would kind of consider themselves a foodie, or even anyone that just really likes to eat, would find themselves at home among the never-ending parade of seemingly perfect meals that we were served the entirety of our stay. The resort is small, intimate, and classically Southern, and they are known for their culinary and wine program.

On the last morning of our trip, we sat down for brunch and my attention was immediately directed to my left where BJ Novak (you probably know him as Ryan, the temporary hire on “The Office”) was dining with three other people. I was literally seconds away from approaching him to ask if we could FaceTime Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapour) so I could fangirl her and talk about her new book that had me near-pants-wetting the entire time I read it. Right about that time, our waitress brought to our table a complimentary treat: breakfast danish. Let’s talk about that danish.

Actually, I may need a minute to just cherish the memory of that pastry.

Blackberry Farm- you know how to do it. You see all the other restaurants and resorts serving club crackers and cold biscuits as their complimentary bread basket and you decide to Michael-Jordan-slam-dunk-from-the-free-throw-line all over their faces. No, this was not your run of the mill bread basket.

That danish was of another world. That danish tasted as though it was made entirely of butter and fairy dust. That danish was melt in your mouth, rich, buttery, flaky, tender pastry wrapped around a tart and spicy fruit filling.

It was beyond. And I knew I had to have it. After scouring the internet for a recipe that seemed worthwhile, I ran across a recipe by Samantha Seneviratne that had been published in the New York Times. A quick review of the recipe reassured me that this was the one. But quickly, before I tell you the recipe, a few thoughts that I will share in rhetoric:

Is this a ridiculously simple recipe? No. This recipe can look a bit overwhelming from the front end and it is not a mere one or two steps.
Is this a recipe that I can prepare in an hour start to finish? Absolutely not. This will take you a chunk of time and is best worked through in short phases throughout the day.
Is this a recipe that will melt my face off? Yes. Prepare your face for its day of melting. This is a recipe that is worth every second of meltage and more.

I recommend reading the recipe start to finish a few times so you’re kind of prepared for what’s ahead. For additional notes, be sure to check out the original recipe for the pastry as well.

And by the way, BJ Novak, if you ever read this by some random strike of luck or coincidence, tell Mindy Kaling I say what’s up and that we should be best friends. That is all.

Breakfast Danish

Print Recipe

A tender, flaky pastry crust braided and baked around a sweet and tart blend of winter fruits.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 90
Cook Time: 45
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the danish dough (Recipe by Samantha Seneviratne)

1 ½ cups bread flour, plus more for rolling dough
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
14 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cubed
1 large egg
¼ cup cold whole milk

For the winter fruit filling

13 dried apricots, diced
1/2 cup dried cherries
2 tablespoons good quality bourbon
3 tablespoons butter
2 granny smith apples, peeled and diced
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the dough

Combine the flour, granulated sugar, yeast and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse to combine until butter is distributed in pea-sized pieces throughout the flour. Put the flour mixture in a medium bowl.
In a separate, small bowl, whisk the egg and milk with 2 tablespoons of water. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Fold the mixture until the liquid is evenly distributed, being careful to not overwork the dough. Dump the contents of the bowl out on to a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle. Chill for at least 3 hours, and up to 2 days.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to an 8-by-15-inch rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding process. Dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking, rotate, roll, and fold a final time, ending with a small, rectangular piece of dough. Wrap the dough in Saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Repeat the entire rolling and folding process one more time. You will have rolled and folded the dough six times. If the dough becomes loose or tacky, place in the fridge to rest for a bit. Wrap the dough and place in the fridge for 2 hours or up to overnight.

To prepare the filling

Combine the apricots, cherries, and bourbon in a 4 quart saucepan over low heat with just enough water to almost cover the fruit. Allow to simmer over low heat until fruit has plumped and some of the liquid has been absorbed. This should take about 15 minutes total. Set aside the fruit and its liquid in a separate bowl.
In the same pan over medium heat, combine butter, apples, brown sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, dried fruit, and lemon juice. Bring to a bubble and reduce heat to low, cooking for 5-7 minutes or until apples have softened slightly but are not mushy. During this time, slowly add liquid reserved from the dried fruit so that the filling remains a moist a syrupy consistency but never watery. You may not use all of the reserved liquid. Add vanilla and stir to combine. Allow to cool in the refrigerator.

To assemble the pastry

Roll the pastry dough out in a 11×14″ rectangle on a lightly floured piece of parchment.
Using the back of a knife, mark off a 3″ section of dough running the length of the pastry. Be careful not to break all the way through the pastry. This will serve as your guideline of where the fruit filling will go.
Starting at one end and working your way the entire length of both sides of dough, make 1″cuts perpendicular to the lines you first created, dragging your knife from the barrier line to the end of the dough.These will be the pieces of dough you braid over the top of your fruit filling. Cut off the top and bottom 1″ strips, leaving just a center “flap” on either end.
Beat an egg in a bowl with 2 teaspoons of water and apply a thin coat of this egg wash over the braiding strips and end flap.
Spoon your filling in to the 3″ partitioned section of dough, discarding any extra watery liquid that may have gathered in the bowl.
Fold the center end flaps up and over the fruit. Starting at one end of the pastry, braid your strips, in a slightly downward angle. When you get to the end of the pastry, fold your strips over and lightly press to ensure that the pastry has adhered and sealed.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Move the parchment to a cookie sheet and cover with saran wrap, allowing the pastry to rise. It will puff up slightly and bounce back at your touch.
Brush the remaining egg wash all over the top of pastry. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, gently turning the pan halfway through. Remove from oven when the pastry is flaky and golden. Cool on a cooling rack until just warm. Serve warm with a simple powdered sugar or brown butter glaze.

Recipe Adapted From: Samantha Seneviratne

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