My Cherry Amore

Tee hee, I crack myself up.

Btw, I wrote this post and due to some technical difficulties, it wouldn't post! Bah humbug!

Cherries are definitely in season, as seen by their remarkable prices - what was once $4.99/lb is now less than $4 per bag, with each bag at least 2lbs! Therefore, I highly recommend everyone stocking up on it! Which is what Rye Bread's parents did...then they left for Europe...and Ryan doesn't eat cherries, and last I checked, I can't feed 'em to the dogs, so what to do?

Cherry Pie? Sure, that sounds summery and traditional...a summer tradition, if you will.

Cherry-Oatmeal Cookies? But I just made oatmeal raisin cookies last week.

Cherry Crumb Cake? Say what?!

hand-pitted cherries

After spending a few minutes googling "cherry recipes" I stumbled upon this one, which I can't remember where - but as soon as I back-track, will give credit to. Here's the recipe for a nommy cherry crumb cake, enjoy!

INGREDIENTS - CAKE
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup coarsely chopped pitted fresh cherries, tossed with 2 tablespoons flour*
*steph note: the best $13 spent is on an olive/cherry pitter. it only took 6 minutes to pit an entire bowl of cherries...definitely worth it, especially for the summer, seen here -->

INGREDIENTS - TOPPING
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

PREPARATION
- Heat oven to 350-degrees F. Grease & flour a 9-inch round cake pan

- With an electric mixer, cream 6 tablespoons of butter and 3/4 cup granulated sugar until light & fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and sour cream until blended.
*steph note: i accidentally put an entire stick of butter instead of the recommended 6 tablespoons and had to start all over again, so make sure to cut the butter sticks before leaving them at room temp...i am just an idiot.

not required: looking like an idiot while ryan tests the camera // taking psycheledic pictures because you fall while trying to take a picture

- In another bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Slowly beat the flour mixer into the batter just until blended. Fold in cherries. Spoon into the prepared baking pan.

- Combine 6 tabelspoons of butter with brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pecans/walnuts. Mix well. With fingers, crumble the streusel mixture eveninly over the cake batter.
*steph note: i accidentally put an entire stick of butter instead of the recommended 6 tablespoons and had to start all over again, so make sure to cut the butter sticks before leaving them at room temp...i am just an idiot. Yes....AGAIN. Don't you judge me!

how come when ryan saw this picture, he asked "what is this? oh, i thought it was dog food." WTH!

- Bake the cake for 45 to 50-minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Serves 8 to 10.
*steph note: Or 4 hungry hungry hipppos.

After taste-testing this, it seemed a little dry. More likely because I was over-zealous with my mixer and over-beat (over beated? over bat?) the batter. Make sure to just mix until its blended.

Bon appetit!

so i was also multi-tasking by doing laundry, don't mind the mess! // ryan was helping...by playing with our xbox360.

p.s. can we please give me a pat on the back for not making ONE SINGLE "cherry poppin'" joke?! lol.