Cherries lead flavour of summer season

The fruit of the summer is awaited with anticipation, arriving first from Washington state and finally from the fruit trees of British Columbia.
Cherry season is enough to put a smile on the face of the grumpiest shopper, especially if the cherries are deep red for the most juice and the sweetest taste.
Roman conquerors and Chinese noblemen included cherries on their menus before later generations were responsible for bringing cherries to North America in the 1600s.
French colonists later planted cherry pits along the St. Lawrence. Since then cherry orchards have been planted where weather is favourable, and new varieties developed.
The most famous sweet cherry is the Bing, and the latest variety to gain in popularity is the Rainier, a light-fleshed, sweet fruit. The Rainiers aren't as plentiful and the season of availability is much shorter.
While the best way to eat cherries is in their fresh and raw state, cherries can also be the main ingredient in tasty, cooked confections.
Today's recipes come from Helen Gougeon's Good Food Cookbook and from other sources.
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Fresh Cherry Mould
1 1/2 lbs. red. ripe cherries, pitted
brandy or fruit juice
4 eggs
1/3 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
2 cups milk
sugar
sweetened whipped cream
Wash, dry, stem and pit cherries. Marinate them in a little brandy or fruit juice.
Beat eggs. Combine salt and flour then add alternately with milk to the beaten eggs. The resulting paste should be smooth and creamy but not thick.
Drain the cherries. Arrange them in a greased 9 inch baking dish and distribute the paste evenly over them. Dot with butter and bake in a 325 degrees F oven for about one hour. Sprinkle with sugar immediately out of the oven. Serve with whipped cream. Serves 4-6.
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Cherry-Walnut Oatmeal Crumble
1 1/2 lbs. fresh cherries, washed, halved and pitted
1 cup apple juice
1/4 cup walnuts
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick-cooking oatmeal)
7 tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine, cut into pieces
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 pinch salt
1/4 tsp. almond extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cherries in a bowl and pour the apple juice over them. Set aside for one hour. Spread walnuts on a cookie pan and place in oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly toasted. Remove from oven and set aside. When cool, roughly chop nuts. While walnuts are roasting, prepare the crumble topping.
Toss together the flour, 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar, the brown sugar, the rolled oats and the chopped nuts in a bowl. Cut in the butter or margarine with a pastry blender or rub it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside. Strain apple juice off cherries and place in a heavy 2-quart saucepan.
Stir in the remaining 2/3 cup of granulated sugar, cornstarch and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and bubbly. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the cherries and almond extract. Spoon the mixture into a deep 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle crumble topping over the cherries.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until the crumble is bubbly at the edges and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Joyce Walter can be reached at 691-1259 or jwalter@mjtimes.sk.ca