Cherry Almond Sundaes Recipes

WARM CHERRY SUNDAES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine wine or cherry juice and sugar; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add cherries and return to a boil. Remove from heat and transfer cherries to a bowl, leaving liquid in pan. Let stand 5 minutes. Strain any juice that has accumulated from cherries back into the pan. Bring liquid back to a boil and boil over high heat until volume is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Let cool until lukewarm. Scoop ice cream into 6 stemmed wine glasses or dessert dishes. Top with equal amounts of cherry sauce and whipped topping. Garnish with almonds and a chocolate covered cherry.

CHERRY ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line the bottom of a buttered 9- by 2-inch round cake pan with a round of wax paper, butter the paper, and dust the pan with flour, knocking out the excess. Working over a bowl pit 1 pound of the cherries, reserving any juice.
• In a food processor grind fine the almonds with the flour, the baking powder, and the salt. In a bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, add the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and stir in the flour mixture, the vanilla, the almond extract, and the reserved cherry juice.
• In another bowl with the electric mixer, beaters cleaned, beat the egg whites until they just hold stiff peaks, stir one fourth of them into the batter to lighten it, and fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Turn the batter into the pan, smoothing the top, arrange the cherries evenly on it, pressing them into the batter slightly, and sprinkle them with the remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean, and let it cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack, invert a cake plate over it, and invert the cake onto the plate. Dust the cake with the confectioners' sugar and garnish it with the additional cherries. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

CHERRY-ALMOND COBBLER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
• To make the filling, in a shallow 2-quart (2-liter) baking dish, toss the pitted cherries with the 2 tablespoons (30 g) sugar and the lemon juice.
• To make the topping, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the almond paste and 1/3 cup (65 g) sugar on medium speed until the almond paste is broken into fine pieces. Beat in the butter, then the egg and vanilla or almond extract. Add half of the flour mixture, followed by the milk, then the remaining flour mixture, mixing just until combined.
• Spoon the batter evenly over the cherries in the baking dish. Bake until the topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the topping comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
• Serving
• Serve the cobbler warm or at room temperature with whipped cream (page 239), Vanilla Ice Cream (page 143), or White Chocolate-Ginger Ice Cream (page 149).
• Variations
• For MANGO, BLACKBERRY, AND ALMOND COBBLER; make a filling with 5 pounds (2.5 kg) mangoes, peeled, pitted, and cubed; 2 1/2 cups (12 ounces/340 g) blackberries; 2 tablespoons (30 g) packed light or dark brown sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; and the juice of 1 lemon. To make MIXED BERRY-ALMOND COBBLER; substitute 6 cups (about 1 3/4 pounds/795 g) mixed berries for the cherries. For CHERRY, APRICOT, AND ALMOND COBBLER; substitute 1 pound (450 g) apricots, pitted and cut into eighths, for half of the cherries.