Tart Cherries: Picking, Pitting, and Processing!

Our final foray up to northern Michigan for the summer included a mamma-mandated trip back to Rennie Orchards to pick tart cherries! Homemade cherry jam is one of my favorite things to eat all winter long, and there is just something about the fact that I hand-picked and pitted these cherries that makes the jam even sweeter for me. I love preserving the season for later!







Jackpot! Low-hanging fruit!

We ended up with about 18 pounds of fresh tart cherries to take home to Chicago with us, and the next day we got right down to business. (Tart cherries don't like to wait around.)

With this new cherry pitter in hand, we pitted and pitted and pitted! Anne helped, of course. Never underestimate the enthusiasm of a toddler for an excruciatingly tedious task.



Once pitted, the cherries were processed in one of three ways:

1. Maraschino Cherries, a half batch of this ginormous recipe, using about 5 pounds, and yielding 2 pints and 8 half-pints: http://leapphotography.com/blog/2015/06/maraschino-cherries-home-canning-recipe-boise-photographers/

Assemble booze, etc:



Bring to a boil:



Pack the pitted cherries:



Pour over hot, sweet, boozy goodness:



Voila!

2. Tart Cherry Jam, doubling this trusty recipe that I've used for the last 2 years, using about 8 pounds, and yielding 3 pints and 8 half-pints: http://foodinjars.com/2009/07/sour-cherry-jam-recipe/





3. Frozen pitted tart cherries for pies, etc. Two pies' worth, about 2 pounds per pie.

The final product:



Not pictured: one exhausted, cherry-stained, and happy pregnant mamma.

Cherry Pie... with issues.

My mom always paints stuff on the top of fruit pies with food coloring. 
Except the tops of her pies don't have fault lines...

The Cherry Festival starts this weekend!  Eeeep!

Wait... you've never heard of the Cherry Festival?  Let me fill you in!

It always takes place the first full week of July in Traverse City, Michigan.  Did you know that Traverse City is the cherry capital of the world?  Michigan produces 70-75% of the tart cherries grown in the United States, and most of those are grown in the counties surrounding Traverse City.  The Cherry Festival is a week-long celebration of cherries, including parades (a Cherry Queen is crowned), cherry pit-spitting contests, cherry pie-eating contests, concerts and more.  For people who live in Traverse City, it renders our tiny hometown nearly useless for a week, as 500,000 people descend and cause unbelievable traffic.  But it's fun!

In honor of the Cherry Festival, and because they had fresh Michigan tart cherries at the farmer's market last week, I decided to bake a pie.  I've never baked one with fresh cherries before, because the pies that my mom makes from frozen Michigan Montmorency cherries (which I told you about when I made Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Bars) are flipping amazing, and I never felt the need.  After having pitted what felt like a million cherries the other night, I don't think I'll ever do that again, at least not for a pie.  Or not until I get a cherry pitter.

My hand, stained bright red with cherry juice.

Did I mention that my mom makes utterly amazing pies?  Seriously.  At Thanksgiving, we have three.  Pumpkin (obviously), and pecan for my dad, who's from Memphis, and then cherry.  Because... they live in Traverse City and it's my mom's favorite.  You really can't blame her.  One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is actually the piece of cherry pie I get to have for breakfast the next day.

I pitted each one of these with a knife!  It took forever!

I had some trouble with this pie.  The crust just wouldn't stay together!  I rolled it out, and everything seemed to be going well.  Then I tried to get it off the counter and into the pie plate, and... it fell apart.  Not like one little tear, or a rip down the middle that's easily fixed.  Like, fell apart into a million crumbly pieces.  So that I had to pick up each tiny piece, put it in the plate, and try to smash it into the other pieces to get a pie crust that was resonably intact.  Thankfully, I had a little bit better luck with the top crust - you can't exactly patch-as-you-go on top of the fruit, now can you?  I was more than a little frustrated.  Then I almost burned it.  But it's still cherry pie, and it still tasted ridiculously good.  That said, I still won't give you the recipe, because it is woefully incomplete, and only escaped becoming a total trainwreck because, well... it was still made with butter, sugar, and fresh fruit.  And that can only get so bad.



What is your hometown famous for? 

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Bars

The story of why I made these is not that exciting.  I wanted to make a dessert (preferably involving chocolate) to bring to a party I had been invited to.  I had a bag of really awesome Michigan cherries in my freezer, and I'm moving in 2 weeks and am trying to use stuff up.  So I thought for a few minutes and this idea was born.  And it was delicious.  Here's the deal:  Chocolate cookie crust.  Cherry pie filling.  Cheesecake.  Are you with me?  :-)

These cherries are the best!  You can order them online here! 

My friend Marie, the lovely hostess of the party (and writer of this blog) and her

chocolate cupcakes with chocolate-red wine frosting!  Delicious!

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Bars

(Makes about 30 2-bite bars)

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (just guess - it doesn't need to be exact)

1/3 cup melted butter

Cherry Filling:

24 oz. frozen tart cherries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbsp. corn starch

1/4 tsp. almond extract

Cheesecake:

16 oz. softened cream cheese (I used the reduced fat and you can't tell)

2 eggs

1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325.  Grease a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray, and then add parchment paper and press in the corners.  Combine cookie crumbs and butter until completely moistened.  Pour into the prepared pan and press into the edges.  Bake for 12 minutes, remove and cool.  While it is cooling, prepare the cherry filling.  Combine frozen cherries, sugar, corn starch and almond extract in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes.  Pour filling over the chocolate crust.  Allow that to cool while you make the cheesecake layer.  Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated.  Add yogurt, sugar, and vanilla, and beat again until combined.  Pour cream cheese mixture over cherry mixture and spread gently to cover.  Bake for 35 minutes, until set but still a little jiggly.  Cool completely and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours (or overnight, like I did).  Slice into bars, and garnish with shaved chocolate, if desired.