My Grandmother's Recipe - Upside Down Cherry Cake

Cherry Almond Clafoutis (French pudding-cake)

A recipe sent to me by a friend.

Cherry-Almond Clafoutis

"Clafoutis is a French dessert, half pudding and half cake; very easy to
prepare. Fresh cherries are the classic filling; however, if these are not
available, use canned tart cherries, (not pie filling), figs, prunes, or
halved dried apricots. Nut Warning - Almonds and Almond extract. Eliminate
these ingredients from the recipe if you have an intolerance to nuts."

12 ounces large fresh pitted cherries or frozen cherries, thawed and
drained
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons sliced almonds
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
3 large eggs, plus
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
4 teaspoons cognac or brandy (optional)
confectioners' sugar, for sprinkling
2 tablespoons roasted sliced almonds, for garnish (optional)

Traditional Clafoutis is made with un-pitted cherries (some purists think that the cherry pits add to the flavor as the Clafoutis is baked - but for most people it's a tooth-breakage risk to leave the pits in). Much easier to eat if you remove the pits out of the cherries!
Look for Bing cherries that are very dark red, almost black.

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees F.
2. Butter four 1-cup capacity ramekins, or custard cups.
3. In a small bowl, toss the cherries with 2 tbsp of the sugar, then divide evenly among the ramekins (or custard cups) In a food processor, combine the almonds, the remaining sugar, the flour, salt, eggs, egg yolk, milk, and almond extract.
4. Process about 30 seconds, or until the almonds are ground and the mixture forms a smooth batter Pour the batter over the cherries, dividing equally.
5. Top each serving with 1 tsp cognac, or brandy, and bake 35 minutes, or until puffed and brown.
6. Let cool until warm (they will sink slightly).
7. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and garnish with toasted almonds, if desired.
8. Serve warm.
9. NOTE: To make one large dish of clafoutis instead of individual servings, pour the batter into a buttered 2-quart baking dish and cook 45 minutes.
10. Serve by spooning clafoutis into individual dessert dishes.

Cherry Muffins - Blueberry Muffins

Yesterday, I realized I still had fresh cherries in the fridge. Well, they used to be fresh cherries. They were getting a bit on the old (but not yet bad) side. Knowing how expensive cherries are, I tried to think of a way I could use them in some sort of baked food.

I decided to try them in the place of blueberries in a recipe for blueberry muffins. I know that sounds really weird, but it was actually very good! I've found these to be as good as the store muffin kits, but in this home version, you don't consume any additives or preservatives. It's pretty easy to mix together, too.

I'll give you the recipe for Blueberry Muffins first, followed by the recipe for the Cherry version.

This blueberry muffin recipe came from a club cookbook put out in 1986 by the Bethel Bur-Ton Homemaker's Club of Savannah, Georgia. Although some of the recipes have errors, overall it's been one of my most useful cookbooks, because it has all the old fashioned, yummy recipes! Mrs. Lester Eck is credited with this recipe.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

1 egg
1/4 c cooking oil
3/4 c milk
1-1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c blueberries

Beat egg, oil and milk together lightly. Sift dry ingredients together/ blend lightly. Do not beat. Fold in blueberries. Bake for 25 minutes at 375. May be made in greased muffin pans or paper lined pans. Fill 2/3 c full. Makes 24 small muffins or 12 larges ones.

(I will make a small correction here to Mrs Eck's recipe, be careful of the time. In my oven at 375, these are done in 18 minutes, not 25. So keep an eye out, oven temps/times vary)

CHERRY MUFFIN VERSION

I decided to increase the sugar amount, because fresh cherries are generally more sour than blueberries. It worked great.

1 egg
1/4 c cooking oil
3/4 c milk
1-1/2 c flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped fresh cherries

I figured out a quick and easy way to mix this together:
I use a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup to measure out 3/4 cup milk, then added vegetable oil until the level of all the liquid hits 1 cup. Then I added the 1 egg and lightly mixed with fork.

Then I took a large mixing bowl and put all the dry ingredients in. I did not sift, the flour is pre-sifted. I did mix all the dry ingredients together very well, then poured in the liquid. Folded in the cherries, put into greased muffin pan(s) for 18 minutes at 375.

If you like the Duncan Hines "Bakery Style" muffins with the streusel-like topping, here's a home version of that:

Mix together:

1/2 c sugar
3/4 c flour
1/4 c butter
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix with fork and sprinkle over muffins before baking.