Not Your Mother's Cookbooks

photo courtesy taste of home

Wow! You can’t imagine how FAST, EASY, and DELICIOUS this is! Use a cherry pitter or small paring knife to remove the pits.  Be sure to wear an apron or pit the cherries with your hands inside a gallon plastic bag to deter the inevitable splattering. Serve warm or cold and top it off with vanilla ice cream.  It is great for a crowd ( you can double, triple, whatever, just use a larger pan). Deborah Olson’s family owned the last cherry orchard in the Santa Clara Valley and are famous for their cherries and cherry honey. Deborah still markets her cherries by mail.

Overview

• Serves 6

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 cups (approximately 2 l/2 pounds) fresh dark, sweet cherries, pitted
• 3/4 cup sugar
• l/2 cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour mixture
• 4 l/2 tablespoons cold or frozen unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• l/8 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º (325º if using Pyrex).  Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking dish and set aside.
2. Place the sugar and flour in a bowl.  Cut in the butter pieces with your fingers, a pastry blender, or pulse in a food processor until the mixture just holds together and looks crumbly.  Set aside or refrigerate in a covered container.  Can be made the day ahead.
3. Pour the pitted cherries in the baking dish and sprinkle with the almond extract; toss to coat.  Sprinkle the fruit evenly with all of the topping.
4. Bake in the center of the oven until lightly browned and the fruit is bubbling and tender, 50 to 60 minutes.  Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.