It's been a very red and pink week at Redacted Recipes, driven by a surfeit of red produce in our CSA share. We had mushy strawberries to make into Pink Lemonade Bars, we had a load of beets which turned into Pink Pasta with Beet and Roquefort Sauce, and now we have cherries.
We have black cherries and sour cherries, and Queen Anne cherries. We have cherry juice on our fingers and running down our chins.
We also have the most sinful cherry cobbler ever just out of the oven. I'm not sure I can really call this dessert a cobbler, as it's topped with cubes of brioche rather than biscuit batter, but I can't think of anything else to call it-- it certainly isn't bread pudding, as it contains no milk or cream.
I got this recipe from my mother, who made it for us while we were visiting in May. She got it from a neighbor, and the original calls for slices of white bread, crusts removed, layered over peaches and topped with an evil mixture of melted butter, sugar, flour and egg. Naturally I decided to make it even more evil by substituting brioche cubes for the bread slices, and our fresh cherries for the peaches.
The sugar topping oozes down into the cherries and gets absorbed by the brioche. Eat it warm. You won't regret it.
Cherry Cobbler
One quart of cherries, pitted
4 1-inch slices of brioche, crust removed, cubed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten
Cinnamon, to taste
Place the cherries in the bottom of a round baking dish, toss them with as much cinnamon as you like, and then layer the brioche cubes over them.
Mix the melted butter with the sugar and flour and then add the beaten egg and mix well.
Pour the sugar mixture over the brioche cubes.
Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes.
OH.MY.GOD.
This looks absolutely delicious!! I love the idea of putting brioche cubes on top, and I can almost taste the perfect flavor combination you've created...almost. Maybe I need a piece, just to be sure ;)
Posted by: Sophie | July 10, 2008 at 03:59 PM
I'm with Sophie: OMG! I'm so jealous of all your beautiful cherries! They're 10.99 a pound right now here - on sale. Boo hoo. I'm hoping by next year I won't miss stuff like that so much. It looks lovely and gorgeous...wonder if pineapple would work...
BTW - I fixed the link! Thanks again for letting me know!
Posted by: michelle | July 10, 2008 at 04:49 PM
Wow! this looks much more decadent than mine and sounds wonderful. I may have to get some cherries.
Posted by: Mary Anne | July 10, 2008 at 04:53 PM
The cherry photos are gorgeous! They really need to be painted. And the recipes sound good, too, and easy. Alas, the Oregon cherry crop was a dud this year, a late snow and bees who did not pollinate doomed it. A big disappointment.
Posted by: Sharon McBurney | July 10, 2008 at 06:15 PM
Ann, what an incredible difference the new camera makes... that first photo is perfection!!
Posted by: Aran | July 10, 2008 at 07:32 PM
Very deliciously evil indeed!
Posted by: Susan/Wild Yeast | July 10, 2008 at 08:02 PM
OH, brioche is the best.
Posted by: maybelles mom (feeding maybelle) | July 10, 2008 at 08:05 PM
Heaven: brioche cubes and cherry call it whatever just call me when it's ready please! Very beautiful.
Posted by: MyKitchenInHalfCups | July 10, 2008 at 08:52 PM
The bowl or the cobbler..hard to decide....toss a coin and flip me the winner!
Posted by: Peter | July 10, 2008 at 08:59 PM
Sinful indeed! I too am jealous of the cherries-- the 10.99 a pound Michelle stated is pretty close a price for us, and there's no guarantee we're not just getting the bad quality ones!
This would kind of make it a pudding/ betty, wouldn't it? :)
Posted by: Manggy | July 11, 2008 at 12:55 AM
Brioche?! How sinfully delicious! I love it when my husband makes brioche, and we use the leftovers for French toast (so over the top). But I'm in love with the idea of cherries and brioche, so will definitely try this. I do wish we had a great CSA opportunity near us, but with so many farmstands closer to home, it's never made sense to drive farther for a CSA. You are so lucky to have a good CSA near you.
Posted by: Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) | July 11, 2008 at 06:54 AM
"cinnamon, to taste" is a dangerous phrase for me. actually, i tend to do it in every recipe, whether it's stated like that or not. :)
i adore cobblers (the dessert, of course, not the shoe fixers) and cherries are fabulous too, so i'm pretty darn jealous of you right now. :)
Posted by: grace | July 11, 2008 at 10:24 AM
I won't mind at all if you send some over, Ann. Oh, and the dessert, too. ;)
Posted by: Patricia Scarpin | July 11, 2008 at 01:04 PM
wow I want your CSA. I have yet to decide what CSA to go with and when I think I know I email them and never hear back...some day I will geter done.
the Cherries look great.
Posted by: shayne | July 11, 2008 at 01:18 PM
How appropriate that you would be using Queen Anne cherries in your baking. I hope that Jack now refers to you by your queenly name. The cobbler is one of those making something out of very little recipes although I think you raised the bar with brioche and cherries.
Posted by: giz | July 11, 2008 at 04:41 PM
That's a great way to use those cherries!
Posted by: Deborah | July 11, 2008 at 04:57 PM
Those cherries looks beautiful!
The recipe sounds very good as well, I have never tried cobbler yet...
Have a nice day, Margot
Posted by: Coffee and Vanilla | July 11, 2008 at 05:44 PM
What a gorgeous cherry galore! I'll have to try cobbler these days
Posted by: Lore | July 12, 2008 at 07:28 AM
Ooooooooh this is seriously indulgent stuff Ann. Must have been out of this world. Love the pictures too!! WOW!!
Posted by: Deeba | July 12, 2008 at 09:16 AM
So that's why you wouldn't take my cherries. I understand now! :-)
I've been over my head with them but i managed to give some to one of the reader. I might get another batch next week, along with another 8 bags of freakin' kale! [sigh]
Me like that cherry cobbler. Maybe i'll do that instead of complaining. :-)
Posted by: zenchef | July 12, 2008 at 01:14 PM
This dessert looks wonderful - if it's evil, I am happy to be tempted ;) The cherries by themselves also look glorious - it is so far from cherry season here at the moment that fresh cherries are a distant but very fond memory ...
Posted by: Cakelaw | July 13, 2008 at 05:02 AM
There's something irresistable about pink fruits and desserts (and indeed pasta) but cherries are my all time favourite. One of the desserts at my wedding was an enormous bowl of ripe cherries. I think I ate most of them myself.
Posted by: african vanielje | July 13, 2008 at 06:09 AM
Yep me to,o having a hard time to decide, everytime I bought some cherries with a lot of recipes plans in the back of my heads, I ate all the fresh cherries first before I could decide what to make out of it :)
Posted by: Zita | July 14, 2008 at 06:57 AM
What gorgeous cherries! I usually can't get fresh cherries to last long enough to make anything with them (they disappear too quickly into my mouth) but the cobbler sounds great!
Posted by: Ellie @ Kitchen Wench | July 14, 2008 at 08:01 AM
We would like to feature this recipe on our blog. Please email haleyglasco@gmail.com if interested. Thanks :)
Haley
http://blog.keyingredient.com/
Posted by: Haley | July 14, 2008 at 01:29 PM