The Cherries on Top: Three Desserts for Summer

Even if strawberries and rhubarb are in, to me it never feels as if summer has begun until there are cherries. Cherries herald the beginning of the stone fruit season, and for a brief period they have star billing before apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums arrive.Those first cherries bring fresh, sweet, immediate hands-on pleasure. The shiny fruit, blood-red juices bursting, is heavenly. And it’s true: The best early-summer dessert is simply a giant bowl of cherries.In a perfect world, you may pick your own. Cherries, if you have a tree, are sometimes hard-won. I know this from experience. Oh, the blossoms are beautiful, if they don’t blow away in a storm, which means no fruit will form. But cherry trees are extremely tall, the fruit reached by wobbly, high, narrow ladders. Most of the cherries on my two trees were at the very top.In addition, there is tough competition for the fruit. Specifically, neighborhood birds are the enemy. Cherries are safe on the branches as long as they are underripe. But the moment they are red and ripe, the entire flock, with all its relatives and pals, descends with a fury. When you look up, you discover, dumbfounded, only stems attached to pits, with no sign of the fruit’s flesh.Ah, well, perhaps, next year, you say. Or perhaps it’s more trouble than it’s worth - easier to pick them from a bushel basket at a farm stand.While a bowl of cherries is nearly always the perfect choice, sometimes I want to offer my dinner guests a bit more indulgence. So I’ll share three cherry desserts with you. None are terribly difficult to prepare, though they all require time. If you divide the work (do part of the project today and part tomorrow), they are all easy to execute. Actually, I find that’s the key to making desserts in general.Take the cherry-coconut ice cream sandwiches, for instance. It’s essential to accomplish the work in stages. Make the ice cream on Day 1 and let it firm up in the freezer overnight. Stew the pitted cherries with a bit of sugar and purée them to add to the custard (there’s a little coconut milk in the mixture, too).You can make the cookies, which are lemony butter wafers, on the first day as well, or at least make the dough. On Day 2, fill the sandwiches with the pastel pink ice cream and roll the edges in grated coconut, then pop them back into the freezer to serve later. (Unless you want to take the Sicilian approach to ice cream sandwiches, in which case you’ll nestle a scoop of ice cream in a split brioche bun instead, but that’s another story.)For the cherry frangipane tart, you can make it all in one go, but it’s more relaxing if you do it in parts. Though you don’t have to, it’s easy to make the tart dough and press it into the fluted tin well in advance. Freeze the tart shell until you are ready to blind bake it (this step ensures a crisp crust rather than a sad soggy bottom).Make the frangipane filling in advance, too. Frangipane is a luscious, fragrant mixture of ground almonds, butter and eggs, useful for this cherry tart and countless other desserts. It can be whizzed up in a food processor several days ahead, or just a few hours ahead, as your schedule permits. Pit the cherries, too. Then it’s a simple matter to spread the prebaked shell with frangipane, arrange cherries over the top and consign it to the oven. And all of this can take place hours before the tart is served.Île flottante, or floating island, is a classic French dessert. Its elegant appearance belies the ease with which it is made. All of the elements lend themselves to advance preparation. Traditionally, floating island is a pool of vanilla pouring custard called crème anglaise, topped with a fluffy meringue and drizzled with caramel. My version is slightly modified for cherry season. I make a cherry compote flavored with a touch of rose water and reduce the juices to a syrup for drizzling; I also add a hint of cardamom to the crème anglaise.Do the crème anglaise and the cherries ahead of time, a day ahead if you wish. You should make the meringues the day you serve the dessert, ideally just an hour or two before the meal. But don’t worry - they take hardly any time.Cherry Frangipane TartTime: 2 hours
Yield: 6 to 8 servingsFor the tart dough:1 cup/125 grams all-purpose flour
1/4 cup/45 grams granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons/86 grams chilled unsalted butter, in small pieces
1 egg yolk beaten with 2 teaspoons water
For the filling:
1 cup/4 ounces/112 grams sliced natural (raw) almonds, more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup/90 grams granulated sugar
4 ounces/1 stick/112 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
12 ounces/350 grams pitted cherries (about 1 3/4 cups)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting1. Make the tart dough: Combine flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Work in butter thoroughly. Stir in egg yolk mixture and knead briefly until dough is smooth, then form into a flat disk.2. Roll dough to a large circle and lay it in a 10-inch/23-centimeter fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press in well (patch any cracks with extra dough). Refrigerate or freeze for 1 hour.3. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Blind bake tart shell until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. (You do not need to cover the shell or use pie weights.)4. Meanwhile, make the filling: Put almonds, flour and sugar in work bowl of food processor and grind to a rough powder. Add butter and pulse until well incorporated. Add eggs and almond extract and process until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. (Alternatively, use ground almonds and make batter with a mixer instead.)5. Pour almond batter into prebaked shell and smooth with a spatula. Press cherries into batter in a single layer. Sprinkle with a handful of sliced almonds. Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until golden, 30 to 40 minutes. (An inserted skewer should come out clean.) Cool on a rack and remove outer rim of tart pan. Place tart on a serving dish and dust with confectioners’ sugar.Île Flottante With Fresh CherriesTime: 1 1/2 hours
Yield: 6 servingsFor the cherries:1 pound/450 grams pitted cherries (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 cup/180 grams granulated sugar
1 teaspoon rose water
For the crème anglaise:
1 1/2 cups/400 milliliters half-and-half or whole milk
6 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1/2 vanilla bean (halved lengthwise)
2 strips lemon peel
1/4 cup/45 grams granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
4 egg yolks
For the meringues:
2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup/45 grams granulated sugar
2 cups/500 milliliters whole milk
1/4 cup/30 grams toasted pistachios, roughly chopped, for garnish1. Prepare cherries: Put cherries and sugar in a wide saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until soft. Remove cherries and reduce syrup over high heat until somewhat thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour syrup back over cherries. Stir in rose water.2. Make the crème anglaise: Put half-and-half in a saucepan over medium heat and add cardamom, vanilla bean and lemon peel. Bring milk to just under a simmer and remove from heat. Let steep 10 to 15 minutes.3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Add egg yolks and whisk to a creamy consistency. Place mixing bowl over a pot of boiling water, making sure water does not touch bottom of bowl. Slowly add hot milk to mixture and cook, whisking continuously for 5 minutes or so, until it coats a spoon and resembles thick cream. Remove from heat. Strain through a fine sieve. Cool over an ice bath, whisking occasionally. Refrigerate. (May be prepared up to a day in advance.)4. Make the meringues: Put egg whites in a clean mixing bowl with cream of tartar and salt. Whip whites until stiff, then add sugar and continue beating until shiny peaks form.5. Put milk in a wide saucepan and bring to a simmer. Spoon meringue into 6 cloud shapes and place in simmering milk. Cover pan and cook for about 5 minutes, until meringues are firm. Remove with a slotted spoon.6. To serve, pour 1/2 cup crème anglaise into each of 6 shallow bowls. Top each with a meringue. Garnish with cherries and a drizzle of cherry syrup. Sprinkle with pistachios.Cherry Coconut Ice Cream SandwichesTime: 2 hours, plus several hours freezing
Yield: About 16 sandwichesFor the ice cream:1 pound/450 grams pitted cherries (about 2 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup/135 grams granulated sugar, plus another 1/2 cup/90 grams
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 cups/500 milliliters cream or half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon tapioca starch
1 cup/250 milliliters coconut milkFor the cookies:1/2 cup/112 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
1/2 cup/90 grams granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cups flour/190 grams all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup/60 grams grated unsweetened coconut, for garnish
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting1. Make the ice cream: Put cherries, 3/4 cup/135 grams sugar and the salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar, add lemon juice, then simmer until softened, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.2. Put cream, the remaining 1/2 cup/90 grams sugar and the vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. In a small bowl, mix egg yolks and tapioca starch together. Whisk a little hot cream into yolk mixture to temper, then add to saucepan, whisking well. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens slightly, enough to coast a spoon, about 5 minutes. Do not let mixture boil. Remove from heat.3. In a blender, working in batches, puree cherries and cherry juices until smooth. Add custard and coconut milk and blend mixture. Strain through a fine meshed sieve and chill in an ice bath (or refrigerate until chilled). Freeze in an ice cream maker according to instructions, then transfer ice cream to a covered container. Store in freezer until firm, preferably overnight. Makes 1 quart.
4. Make the cookies: Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in egg, vanilla extract and lemon zest and juice. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture and mix until combined. Form dough into 4 disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
5. Heat oven to 425 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment. Roll out dough carefully on a well-floured surface. Cut into 3-inch-diameter rounds and dock with tines of a fork. Bake until pale gold, about 6 minutes. (If desired, sprinkle cookies with a pinch of sugar before baking.) Let cool completely. Makes about 32 cookies.6. To assemble sandwiches, put a small scoop (3 to 4 tablespoons) ice cream between 2 cookies and carefully press together. Sprinkle edges with grated dried coconut. Store sandwiches in freezer until ready to serve. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.© 2015 New York Times News Service