Cherry Tart Views

General Goods

If you haven't pitted cherries before, see How to Pit Cherries.Ingredients: 1 recipe Sweet Short Crust, baked (or other baked tart shell)3 cups fresh black cherries, pitted1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar1 Tbsp. cornstarch1 Tbsp. vanillaPreparation: Toss cherries with 1/4 cup sugar. Let them macerate (the fruit equivalent of marinate ) while you prepare and bake the Sweet Short Crust. Let crust cool. In a small saucepan, combine 2 Tbsp. sugar and cornstarch. Drain cherry juice into the saucepan, whisk to combine, and place over medium heat. Stir until sauce thickens, turns clear, and boils. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Arrange drained cherries in the cooled crust. Pour the warm glaze over them and let cool to room temperature. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream or ice cream. Makes 1 9-inch tart, about 8 servings Fresh Black Cherry Tart.

Last week I watched the paint melt off the walls in my kitchen. It was that hot here in San Francisco. It won't surprise most of you to hear that during this heat wave I spent most of my time in the kitchen - with the oven (and all burners) blazing. My sister is seven months pregnant and Sunday I threw her a baby shower. Other than a spending a couple days in an overheated kitchen, pulling together the food was fun, and a welcome change for me. I mean, you see how I typically cook - for two (with lots of leftovers!). I made lots of different things for the party and it was tough for me to decide which recipe to share with you first. This macaroon cherry tart won out. For those of you who think tarts are too fussy - as far as tart-making is concerned, this is about as unfussy as they get.

I made this tart a day in advance and it served up nicely. Don't get too hung up on the exact pan size, anything in the general ball-park of 8x11 will work. On the cherry pitting front, here's the trick (if you don't own a cherry-pitter): take a pair of clean needle nose pliers and use them. Once you get the swing of things it goes fast. Insert the pliers into the side of the cherry at a 90-degree angle - straight in the side. When you go in through the side with the pliers open just a hint you're able to get a grip on the pit at a comfortable angle and rip it right out. This technique leaves the cherry intact for the most part as well. Gluten free alternative: Mary, one of my readers wrote in to say she made the tart gluten and wheat free by substituting 1c almond flour and 1/2 sweet rice flour for the 1 1/2c of regular flour, It was delicious!!!

Evenly distribute most of the cherries across the tart base. Now drop little dollops of the macaroon topping over the cherries (I dirty up my hands for this part), and mush/press the coconut topping around a bit into the spaces behind the cherries. Be sure to let at least some of the colorful cherries pop through the topping for visual flair. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the peaks of the macaroon topping are deeply golden. Let tart cool, and garnish by sprinkling any remaining fresh cherry halves across the top.