Amazing Cherry Cobbler
I just made a cherry cobbler based on Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Summer Cake: http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/05/strawberry-summer-cake/
Both are fabulous. The cake is like the Platonic ideal of a slightly spongy shortcake. And the strawberrys get so mellow, rich and jammy! But the cherries are different. They stand up on their hind legs and slap you right in the face with bright, tart FLAVOR!! They were so juicy I could see the juice collecting in the bottom of the pan and thought it would make the cake too soggy, but it magically transformed to cherry jam!
Cherry Cobbler
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Strawberry Summer Cake
TOPPING
1 pound Sour Cherries, pitted and halved, reserve juice
3/4 cup sugar
CAKE
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk or cream
1/4 cup cherry juice
1 teaspoon Almond extract
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch square cake pan.
Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg and beat until well combined. Add cherry juice, milk and almond extract until just combined. Mixture will look slightly curdled, but that’s ok. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.
Pour into prepared cake pan and smooth batter down.
Mix cherries with 1/2 the sugar and spread, on top of batter. Sprinkle remaining sugar over berries.
Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. (Gooey cherries on the tester are a given.) Let cool in pan on a rack.
Serve with whipped cream.
I made this with fresh cherries. If you use canned cherries, you'll have to experiment, but I'd start by reducing the sugar in the cake to 3/4 cup, and reduce the sugar you add to the topping to 1/3 cup.