Black Forest Cupcakes

7 Comments September 2, 2025 terrie gura

There’s a reason my dessert page is overrun with the chocolate-cherry flavor combo. The “reason” is my husband, Les, who loves this combination and regularly yearns for it on special occasions. This past weekend was his birthday, and I couldn’t resist adapting my decadent “Black Forest Cake” into individual cupcake treats. Needless to say, Les approved this decision.

With chocolate, cherries *and* bourbon, these cupcakes were a winner for my husband!

The adaptation was not quite as simple as switching pans and adjusting the bake time. My Black Forest cake is powered by sourdough and doesn’t have quite the structure needed for handheld cupcakes. The cake, after all, is syrup-soaked layers held together by mascarpone filling, and that wasn’t going to work for cupcakes. For this switch-up, I looked instead to the recipe I used for the Irish Coffee cupcakes I made for St. Patrick’s Day, with a few flavor swaps, of course. Irish cream had no place in these, so I exchanged it for bourbon (which Les never refuses) and I also replaced the cold coffee with milk.

Getting my ducks in a row makes things go smoother.

Let’s get baking!

My trusted technique for cupcake batter involves first creaming the butter and sugar, mixing in one egg at a time, and then alternating the dry ingredients with the liquids to achieve an even, smooth batter. Easy enough, and these were ready for the oven.

The cherry filling was also easy, with frozen dark sweet cherries cooked with sugar, corn syrup and a splash of juice from our cocktail cherries. I reduced the filling longer than usual because I didn’t want it to make the cupcakes soggy from the inside. The jury was still out on this, but I had purchased a can of cherry pie filling as a backup, hoping that I wouldn’t have to use it.

Don’t miss an opportunity to add flavor. I saved the liquid from our cocktail cherries for just such an occasion.

Even the icing was easy; just a half-recipe of my usual salted butter-powdered sugar-splash of booze buttercream. And given that I planned to only pipe it around the outer edges of my cupcakes, it turned out to be exactly the right amount.

Next time I need a half-batch of buttercream, I’ll use my hand mixer.

Trouble with ganache

Why is it always the easiest part of a recipe that trips me up? Never mind, I know the answer to my own question. I’m far more likely to get lazy or take a shortcut on the part that seems like a no-brainer. And I pay for it every single time. By the way, did I mention that I was trying to make these glorious birthday cupcakes on the sly while Les worked a half-day? He wasn’t supposed to see these or even know that I was making them, and I was feeling the pressure with only 45 minutes remaining before he was due home.

The ganache, which contains only two ingredients— in equal parts, I might add— became the problem. I think it was the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland who lamented,“the hurrier I go, the behinder I get,” and that certainly was the case for me, as I decided in a rush that I would not take five stupid seconds to cross the room and grab my digital scale for proper measurements. Nope, I eyeballed the ratio of dark chocolate wafers and hot heavy cream, and I missed the mark. And then, in my rush to finish, I didn’t give the cream enough time to melt the wafers before I started stirring it. So now I was in a fix of my own making, which happens more than I care to admit.

Three minutes and five seconds would have saved me a bunch of trouble here.

About this time, I panic-texted my high school bestie for a quick sanity check on how to best save the ganache. As expected, both options Christine suggested would take more time than I had, so I finished what I could— filling each cupcake with two or three boozy cherries and piping the buttercream onto the edges. The rest would have to wait, as I crammed the cupcakes and the half-assed ganache into the garage refrigerator, speed-washed the dishes and tried my best to “act normal” when Les walked in the door.

I could at least get the cupcakes ready for the ganache!

A decision bigger than ganache

Though I had made some special plans for us that afternoon, which included a couples’ manicure and a cool visit to the Van Gogh Immersive Experience, half of my mind stayed behind in the kitchen, deciding how to pull this off without spoiling the surprise. This was not a milestone birthday for Les, but I really wanted to make the day extra special because A: I love him to pieces, and B: he had pulled off a stunning party for me one month earlier when I hit a zero-ender birthday. When you love someone, you want to do your best for them, right?

But here’s the thing about my husband— he’s about as easygoing as they come, the kind of guy who appreciates the heartfelt gesture far more than the outcome. In the end, I simply piped the ganache (which resembled milk chocolate pudding) into the well created by the buttercream, topped it with a cocktail cherry and a birthday candle while he changed into comfortable clothes. Does he look bothered?

Naturally, I told him about my ganache faux pas, and assured that the rest of the cupcakes would get the right ganache. Letting this go allowed me to dismiss my disappointment in myself and get back into the special moment of sharing these yummy cupcakes, which Les absolutely loved. Especially the second time!

What a difference careful attention makes!

Just for grins, here’s a side-by-side of the correct ganache with the first batch, and let my lesson be one for you, too. Grab the scale, wait the 10 minutes, take whatever time is needed to avoid unnecessary stress. And if the worst thing that happens is that you end up with an extra bowl of too-creamy, not-so-dark chocolate ganache, well, how is that ever a bad thing?

Black Forest Cupcakes

Servings: A baker's dozen
Prep Time: About 90 minutes total
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Difficulty: Average
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This was a fun challenge, creating a cherry-filled chocolate cupcake with all the wow factor of my Black Forest cake, but in a single serving birthday treat for my husband.

Ingredients

1 stick (8 Tbsp.) salted or unsalted butter, softened to near-room temperature
3/4 cup organic cane sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. bourbon
1 Tbsp. Cherry Heering liqueur (optional, or another of bourbon)
1 1/2 cups unbleached cake flour (see tips)
1/2 cup Double Dark Dutch cocoa (see tips)
1/4 tsp. salt (increase to 1/2 if using unsalted butter)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 heaping tablespoons dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used dark chips)
Cherry filling, buttercream and ganache, as noted below
12 stemmed cocktail cherries (optional, for pretty presentation at serving)

Tips: Cake flour is very fine and lower protein than regular baking flour. Find it in specialty stores or online at King Arthur Baking. If you cannot find it, all-purpose flour is an acceptable substitute. Be sure to measure using the “fluff, sprinkle, level” method so that you don’t end up with too much flour and dense cupcakes.

The cocoa I used is very dark and intensely flavored. I purchase it online from King Arthur Baking. Hershey’s also makes a dark cocoa, which would be a good substitute.

Directions

Heat oven to 350° F, with rack in center position of oven. Line a 12-cup cupcake tin with doubled liner papers.
Beat in eggs, one at a time. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture to the batter, one-third at a time, alternating with the milk and ending with the dry mixture. Slowly stir in bourbon (and cherry liqueur, if using).
Use a large cookie scoop to fill cupcake papers. They will be about 3/4 full. If necessary, line custard cups with papers for any excess batter.
Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 22 minutes, turning pan halfway through for even baking. Remove from oven to cool several minutes, and then transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Use an apple corer or paring knife to carve out a small plug of cake from each cupcake (reserve them). Carefully spoon two or three cherries into each cupcake cavity, and then replace the reserved cake plugs.
Load buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe buttercream only around the outer edge of each cupcake, leaving the center of each cupcake top naked (this is where the ganache will go). Refrigerate cupcakes for an hour or two to firm up buttercream.
Spoon ganache into open top of cupcakes. Place a cocktail cherry on the cupcakes when you are ready to serve them.

Boozy Cherry Filling: If you want to save time, consider using a quality canned cherry pie filling in place of this scratch-made mixture.

Ingredients

12 oz. frozen dark sweet cherries
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. bourbon (or liquid from cocktail cherries)
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup (prevents crystallization of sugar; sub maple syrup if you wish)

Directions

Place cherries, sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved and cherries are completely softened. Simmer for several minutes to reduce the overall liquid in the pan. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon or cocktail cherry liquid.
Cool completely and refrigerate until you’re ready to assemble the completed cupcakes.

Buttercream icing: This half batch was a little tricky in the stand mixer; alternatively, make the icing in a separate bowl with an electric hand mixer.

Ingredients

1/2 stick (4 Tbsp.) salted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 Tbsp. heavy cream (if needed, to thin and smooth out icing)

Directions

Add softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip butter on speed 3 or 4, until light and fluffy.
Add confectioner’s sugar, one-half cup at a time, until fully blended. Stop mixer and scrape down bowl as needed.
Whip in heavy cream if buttercream seems grainy or heavy. If desired, blend in a splash of bourbon.

Ganache: Take time to measure and/or weight the ganache ingredients, so that you get the optimal consistency and flavor. This will make more ganache than you need for the cupcakes, but I trust you’ll think of a way to use the extra. 😉

Ingredients

4 oz. dark chocolate melting wafers
1/2 cup (4 oz.) heavy cream, heated to steaming point but not boiling

Directions

Place chocolate wafers in a deep measuring glass. Pour hot cream slowly over the wafers and set a timer for 10 minutes.
Using a small whisk or spoon, gently stir ganache mixture from the center of the cup, gradually swirling more of the mixture as it melts together. It should stir up nice and smooth. If it doesn’t, place the measuring cup into a bowl of shallow hot water for a few minutes and whisk again.

Cherry & Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

6 Comments July 1, 2025 terrie gura

Three cheers for the purple, white and purple?! Yes, I know that isn’t exactly how the patriotic verse goes, and I had every intention and imagination for this ice cream to represent the colors of the American flag, just in time for the 4th of July. But something interesting happened when I cooked the cherry and blueberry compotes that were destined to be the “red and blue swirls” in my easy, no-egg cheesecake ice cream. They both turned to lovely shades of purple!

Can you tell which is which? Put your guess in the comments section!

Well, dang! My vision was burst for this year’s first National Ice Cream Month offering, and I was bummed. I expected the blueberries would shift to a purplish color, just as they do in pancakes, muffins and even in the mouthwatering Vermont maple blueberry bread pudding that I made a couple of summers ago. But the cherries turning purple surprised me. I had fair warning when I opened the jar of tart cherries, which at first glance were as dull as Kalamata olives! The color perked up slightly when I added frozen dark sweet cherries, but not enough to bring them fully back to red.

Both compotes included frozen fruit, sugar and a touch of corn syrup to prevent crystallization in the freezer.
In the end, both purple. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Power to the purple!

I won’t pretend that I wasn’t disappointed and a little frustrated at the outcome of my “red and blue” ribbons, but there was a valuable meaning in this for me, and it has nothing to do with ice cream. As a nation, we have been self-segregating into red and blue buckets for generations, and how is that working out for us? Anyone who doubts the extent of social division in our land should check the comments section of literally any social media post, political or not. We are losing common ground, losing heart, and losing hope, and that is by design. For as long as rulers have coveted power, they have found ways to pit the people against each other to distract from the real damage they are inflicting on the masses. If they can get us to blame and hate each other, they win and we all lose. We need less revisionist history and fake patriotism that celebrates only “our own kind,” whatever that means, and more of the sentiment that focuses on the bigger picture of a nation that started out as, and still has the potential to be, a melting pot with room and respect for everyone. Power to the purple!

Press play: Little Steven doesn’t mince words in his message about patriotism.
It is as relevant today as when he performed this in 1984.

Give that some thought, and then let’s talk about the delicious cheesecake ice cream base that held my purple and purpler fruit ribbons together.

Cheesecake ice cream

Only a few slight adjustments to my usual base recipe.

It’s been years since I made a cheesecake version of ice cream, and this time, I focused on bringing a tart, slightly lemon flavor to the base to counter all the sweetness of the fruit ribbons. My ice cream began with most of a block of cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, whole milk and heavy cream, plus a shot of vanilla and a few drops of lemon oil. The latter is a specialty product I ordered from King Arthur Baking Company, but you could easily substitute the zest of a fresh lemon in its place. I don’t recommend lemon juice, which could potentially curdle the dairy ingredients.

Mixing the thicker ingredients first ensures more even blending.
The lemon oil emphasized the tang of the cream cheese.

I chilled the base for six hours, then churned it in my Cuisinart ice cream machine until it was silky smooth. This took about 25 minutes, and during the last minute of churning, I did my usual trick of blending in a tablespoon of vodka, which improves the texture of my ice cream so that I can scoop it straight from the freezer later. It’s a minimal amount of alcohol and you never taste it in the ice cream, but feel free to skip this step if you’re avoiding alcohol or serving to children.

The best and most fun part of making an ice cream with any kind of swirl add-in is layering it in the freezer container. Don’t worry about creating the swirls at this stage; doing so tends to create a “muddy” appearance. Just layer away, and trust that the swirls will happen on their own when you scoop the finished product.

There’s magic in the layers!

I had transferred part of my cherry and berry compotes to small zip-top bags, and had crushed several graham crackers into pieces to scatter between layers. Having these components lined up when the ice cream is finished churning makes things come together smoothly.

Layer ice cream, compotes, graham cracker crumbs. Repeat two more times and then freeze.

As always, homemade ice cream is best served fully “ripened,” which just means you put it in the freezer overnight. We shared this purple, white and purple ice cream with friends over Memorial Day weekend and it was fabulous! The cheesecake flavor was prominent, and the cherry and blueberry ribbons tasted exactly like summer.

To my delight, by the way, the purple ribbons did reveal a bit more of their intended blue and red tones when scooped out with the white ice cream. I hope we can look forward together and commit to a positive outcome for our great nation as well. Oh, how I hope.

Cherry & Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 1 hour total, plus chilling and freezing
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Average
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Use your imagination a bit to see this as 'red, white and blue' ice cream, as the blueberries and cherries both turn purplish when you cook them into compotes. The slight lemon flavor in the cheesecake ice cream base is a nice tart balance to all the fruit sweetness, making this ice cream ideal for a July 4th party or any other special occasion this summer!

The cherry compote and blueberry compote are virtually identical in preparation. See the directions below the blueberry compote ingredients list. Of course, make the compotes in separate saucepans so that you may layer them side-by-side in the ice cream.

Ingredients

1 jar tart cherries, drained
1/2 cup frozen dark sweet cherries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup (to prevent crystallization)

Ingredients

3/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 dry pint fresh blueberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. lemon juice (or powder)
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Directions

Combine fruit, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved, and then reduced heat to low and cook until liquid is reduced and mixture is syrupy.
Stir in light corn syrup, remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate. Before layering in ice cream, transfer part of the compote to a small zip-top bag. You will have extra of both compotes left over; enjoy them on top of the ice cream!

Make the ice cream base far enough ahead to chill for a few hours before churning in your ice cream maker.

Ingredients

6 oz. full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature (this is 3/4 of a standard package)
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. lemon oil (optional)
1 Tbsp. vodka (optional for texture, added during final minute of churning)
Cherry and blueberry compotes (recipes above)
1/2 cup crushed graham crackers, for layering (this was one “stacker” package)

Directions

Add cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk to the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk blade. Mix on one of the low speeds until evenly combined.
Add cream and milk to the mixture and whisk on low speed until the mixture is smooth and even. Gently whisk in vanilla and lemon oil.
Transfer ice cream base to a covered bowl or pitcher and refrigerate at least six hours, or up to 24 hours.
Freeze in ice cream machine, following manufacturer’s instructions. Drizzle in vodka (if using) during the final minute of mixing.
Layer churned ice cream into an insulated freezer container, about one third at a time. Follow the layer with one stripe each of the fruit compotes, then scatter crushed graham cracker crumbs over the fruit stripes. Repeat twice with more ice cream, more fruit compote and more graham cracker crumbs. Save the finest crumbs for the final layer. Cover and freeze at least overnight.

Frozen Old Fashioned

9 Comments June 20, 2024 terrie gura

When life gets busy— and boy, has it been lately— we do a lot of repeats at our house because I don’t have as much time (or energy) to be creative. But I’m discovering that an easy way to keep things interesting is to change up just one little thing here or there, so that it seems like we’re having something new, but with minimal extra effort involved. When this clever twist on a classic cocktail jumped out at me from my Instagram feed, I was all for it! What could be better in the blazing heat of summer than a frosty cold adult beverage?

Love at first sip!

This drink is like a grown-up, boozy version of the 7-Eleven Slurpees I loved as a teenager. There was one year of high school that my stepbrother, one year my junior, lived with me, my mother and her boyfriend (his dad). Our favorite thing to do in those days was get the hell out of the house, and it was incredibly convenient that we had a 7-Eleven just down the street. Cary and I would skip down there together to play video games— I slayed at Ms. PacMan and Asteroids back in the day, thank you very much— and we almost always came home with snacks and Slurpees. My favorite was cherry (though I know it was fake).

Fast forward 40+ years. The sweet cherry flavor is still a favorite, and a real-fruit version of it shines through prominently in this cocktail. Big cheers to The G & M Kitchen for this idea that had me asking, “Why in the world didn’t I think of this one?” It’s all the flavors of a bourbon old-fashioned, zhuzhed up with frozen orange wedges, cherries, brown sugar syrup and cocktail bitters.

Same flavors you’d expect in an old fashioned, but extra fruit!

All that, plus a cup of ice whizzed together in the blender until the mixture is frothy, frosty and way beyond refreshing. With the added fruit and all that ice mixed in, there’s also a hydrating element to this cocktail which isn’t a bad thing when the heat gets intense. Plus, it’s easy to whip up several drinks at once for summer entertaining. Yep, this little number will be in hot rotation at our house!

Brown sugar syrup lends a richness to this drink.

This whole situation has me thinking about throwing other favorite cocktails in the blender. After all, frozen margaritas, daiquiris and piña coladas have been a thing for decades. Now, I’ve got my eye on Manhattans, Negronis and Moscow Mules, to name a few, and summer is just getting started.

What favorite cocktail would you like to see frozen? Let me know in the comments, and until next time, “cheers!”

Frozen Old Fashioned

Servings: 2 cocktails
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
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The slushy texture of this classic cocktail makes it the ultimate refresher for the summer ahead!

Ingredients

4 oz. favorite bourbon
Frozen segments from 1/2 seedless orange (membranes are OK, but no peels)
5 or 6 frozen cherries or cocktail cherries, plus juice if you wish (NO PITS!)
1 oz. brown sugar simple syrup (see note below)
4 quick shakes cocktail bitters (Angostura, orange or ginger work nicely)
2 cups ice (preferably crushed or pellet)
Orange slices and/or cocktail cherries to garnish

Note: For the brown sugar syrup, combine equal parts (by weight) brown sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved, then cool and transfer to a jar or bottle. Keep refrigerated for up to two weeks. Wanna save time? Swap in maple syrup for the brown sugar syrup. You won’t regret it!

Directions

Combine bourbon, oranges, cherries, syrup and bitters in the container of a blender. Add ice and pulse a few times to break down the frozen fruit and ice. If your blender has a crushed ice setting, that would be perfect here.
Blend continuously once the ice is broken down, until the drink is nice and slushy to your liking.
Pour into chilled rocks glasses and garnish each drink with an orange slice and a fancy cherry.
Repeat as desired to beat the summer heat!

Chocolate & Cherry Crepes

13 Comments February 9, 2024 terrie gura

I have mixed feelings about special occasions that fall in the middle of the workweek, and with Valentine’s Day on a Wednesday this year— not to mention in the same week as Super Bowl and Mardi Gras— I’m both frustrated and relieved that it won’t be as big a deal.

I’m not one to go nuts over this “holiday,” which smacks of overdone commercialism and sky-high expectations for everything to be perfect. My husband and I usually stay home and either cook for each other or, as will likely be the case this year, keep it low key and simple. I don’t need roses, wine and chocolate to know that I’m loved.

But this year, the easiest time to make a lovely homemade meal for Valentine’s Day would be this Saturday; unfortunately, it’s getting crowded out at our house by the Super Bowl. I’m reminding myself that I don’t need grand gestures, but the truth is I’m disappointed. My husband will feel loved if the table is loaded with spicy queso dip, Buffalo wings and cold beer, but I will genuinely miss preparing an elegant, more “fancy” meal.

If nothing else, I will find a way to throw a little romance onto the scene this weekend, probably in the form of dessert. And I know exactly what he craves— chocolate and cherries!

I can’t go wrong with this flavor combination!

For Valentine’s Day last year (which was a Tuesday, also not ideal), I re-created our 2020 sweetheart meal of crispy duck breast with cherry-pinot noir sauce, and Les was thrilled. For dessert, it was an encore performance of chocolate and cherry crepes. My iPhone camera did not capture good photos of the dish itself that first time— it was before I began blogging— but I believe you can see the bliss in my lover’s eye as he enjoyed his special dessert.

Even with crappy lighting, it’s easy to see that this dessert made him happy!

These are homemade chocolate crêpes, created with double dark cocoa powder and rolled up with an almond-kissed, sweetened mascarpone filling, and then topped with a simple-to-make sweet cherry sauce. And though I’m still a novice when it comes to making crêpes (try not to laugh when you see my photos), I can confirm that after you roll them up and bury them in cherry sauce, nobody will notice if they aren’t perfect.

Making the batter and crepes ahead takes the pressure off whatever else you’re cooking for Valentine’s Day.

The best thing about these crêpes— besides the fact that the flavors are divine— is that you can make every part of them in advance and assemble them when you’re ready to sweep your lover off his or her feet. The crêpe batter actually benefits from some fridge time, so you can even make it the day before. One of these days, I’ll get the hang of cooking them pretty, but for now, the advice I’ll offer is to make extra batter (in case your first ones are duds) and cook them ahead of your occasion. The crepes can be layered with parchment or waxed paper and stored in a zip top bag in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble them with the filling and sauce.

I kept thinking my next crepe would be better, but nope. 😂

The mascarpone is super simple and the cherry sauce, which is conveniently made with frozen dark cherries, can be made ahead and warmed in time for dessert.

Make extra cherry sauce, because you’ll find yourself eating it straight from the pan!

The cherry sauce is so delicious, even if you don’t want to mess with the crêpes, you might find this a perfect topper for ice cream or a brownie or pound cake or anything else you and your Valentine enjoy. I flavored mine up with a splash of amaretto because I love the combination of cherry and almond, but you could skip this or swap in a splash of rum or brandy if you’d like. Assembly of the crêpes is a snap.

Next time, I’ll add a dollop of whipped cream on top!

Chocolate & Cherry Crêpes

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 1 hour, plus fridge time
Cook Time: 40 minutes total
Difficulty: Average
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The best thing about this dessert, besides the marvelous flavor combo, is that you can make every part of it ahead and simply assemble the crêpes at serving time.

The crêpe batter should be made ahead and left to rest in the refrigerator for several hours, up to a full day. Give it a gentle whisking just before cooking to reincorporate any ingredients that have settled to the bottom of the bowl.

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. double dark cocoa
Pinch salt
1 Tbsp. cane sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp. melted butter
½ tsp. vanilla
Additional butter, used for cooking the crêpes (about 1 tablespoon)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender container and blend until completely smooth.
Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate at least an hour or up to one day.
When ready to cook, heat a small pat of butter in a large, non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. When butter begins to brown slightly, ladle 1/4 cup of the crêpe batter into the center of the pan. Swirl the pan gently to spread the batter around into a shape as close to a circle as you can. Cook one minute, then gently turn the crêpe (a silicone spatula is useful here) to cook the other side.
Stack the cooked crêpes between layers of parchment paper and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble.

The mascarpone filling is lightly sweetened and kissed with a touch of vanilla and almond. This is a lovely complement to the dark chocolate crêpes and the sweet cherry topping. Make it ahead and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Ingredients

8 oz. mascarpone, at room temperature
2 oz. cream cheese (full-fat recommended; this is approximately 1/4 of a standard block)
3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Directions

Use a sturdy spoon to blend the mascarpone and cream cheese together in a medium bowl.
Add powdered sugar and extracts. Blend until fully combined and smooth. Refrigerate until ready to assemble the crêpes.

This dark cherry sauce is so easy to make, and provides most of the sweetness in this dessert. It’s delicious when served slightly warm over the crêpes.

Ingredients

3 heaping cups frozen dark sweet cherries
1/4 cup cane sugar
3-inch stick whole cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup cherry juice
2 Tbsp. amaretto
2 Tbsp. corn starch, mixed with 2 Tbsp. cold water (used to thicken sauce)

Directions

Combine cherries, sugar, cinnamon stick, salt, lemon juice and cherry juice in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer until cherries are completely softened. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Bring cherry mixture back to a simmer and stir in amaretto. Remove cinnamon stick and blend corn starch slurry in to thicken. Let the mixture cool slightly before topping crêpes.
Assemble crêpes: Lay a single crepe on a plate or piece of parchment. Add spoonfuls of the mascarpone mixture across the center. Roll up the crêpe and arrange on a dessert plate. Repeat with a second crêpe for each serving. Spoon the cherry sauce over and prepare to swoon.

One last note: Remember that store-bought frozen cherries are pitted mechanically, and every once in a while, the machines miss one. Inspect the cooked sauce thoroughly, just in case!

Crispy Five Spice Duck with Cherry-Pinot Noir Sauce

22 Comments December 17, 2023 terrie gura

While out shopping yesterday, I bumped into some friends who asked whether my husband and I would be staying close to home for Christmas. I jokingly told them that yes, our holiday would be easy and simple again this year for one good reason: Les is Jewish. 😂

Our friends know this of course, and they also know that we do celebrate Christmas, just as we celebrate and observe Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Easter and Passover. Even when it is just the two of us, we enjoy making a special dinner for Christmas night— one that usually begins with a fancy appetizer and ends with a nice dessert.

The holidays are a great time to pull out all the stops and splurge a little— calorie- and money-wise—and we relish this little bit of indulgence regardless of whether we are serving guests or just ourselves. Les informed me recently that his favorite “special” dish that I make is duck (funny that I didn’t know that!), and so I’ve decided to share my tips for making a perfectly crispy seared duck breast and a cherry-pinot noir sauce that sounds complicated but is actually so easy.

Let’s start at the beginning. At first impression, you might think that duck is similar to chicken, but in flavor and preparation, it is actually closer to red meat. There is a generous layer of fatty skin on duck, and it takes extra care to crisp it without overcooking or drying out the meat. This is the technique that works best for me, and I’m sharing it with a recipe I made for my sweetheart on Valentine’s Day this year. If you already have your Christmas meal planned, save this for February (and make something with chocolate and cherries for dessert).

Tip #1: Score the meat for better rendering

Take care not to cut into the duck meat, as I did in the third picture above. You want your cuts to only break the fat.

To efficiently render the thick, fatty skin on duck breast, use a very sharp knife to score it with a crosshatch design, with cuts that spread about 1/2-inch apart and only through the skin, not into the meat. This scoring allows more of the fat to render when you fry it in a skillet.

Tip #2: Dry brine the duck breast

The five spice was delicious with the cherries. If you’re not a fan, simply salt the duck.

I’ve become a big fan of the dry brine, though I had to wrestle with my own sensibilities the first few times I tried it because at first glance, a dry-brined meat looks like it has dried out. Not so! There’s a whole science behind how this works— reverse osmosis of some sort, I guess— but the upshot is that salting and resting meat uncovered in the fridge allows better infusion of the seasoning into the meat and juicier results in the end. Here, I added five spice powder to the kosher salt. It was excellent with the flavors in my sauce. Another advantage of doing this step is that it does dry out the fatty skin a bit, and that greatly reduces spattering in the next step.

Tip #3: Begin with a stone-cold skillet

When melted fat accumulates around the duck breasts, carefully drain it off.

And preferably cast iron! If you were to place a duck breast in a hot skillet, the skin would sear, but the fat would not render very neatly. You’d likely be left with an oily mess, as I did the first couple of times I made duck. A non-stick skillet is not ideal either because the coating is a barrier to getting crispy skin. Invest in a quality cast-iron skillet and it will reward you with exceptional results for any meat you sear. Mine is a 10-inch Lodge skillet, made in the USA and built to last a lifetime. As the fat renders, carefully drain it off.

Tip #4: Do most of the cooking on the skin side

The fatty side should be completely crisp after about 11 minutes. Turn and cook the other side briefly, then transfer to a warm plate.

Duck is best served medium rare (like red meat), and the best way to achieve this together with crispy skin is to leave the breast skin-side down for most of the cooking time. Residual heat from the pan will bring it to temperature, and you only need to turn it to the flesh side for a minute or two to seal in the juices.

Tip #5: Don’t waste the extra duck fat!

A great deal of fat will be released as you render the duck breasts, but this is decidedly not a bad thing! If you plan to make potatoes to accompany your duck, do yourself a favor and fry them in the duck fat! The flavor is incomparable and I am always thrilled to find the crispiest, non-greasy texture on the potatoes. If you don’t need the fat for this meal, drain it off into a jar, let it cool and store it in the fridge until you do make potatoes.

My tips for making these decadent, duck fat-fried potatoes are included at the end of the click-to-print recipe card below.

Yes, it’s saturated fat, and of course, you shouldn’t eat like this very often. But these are the holidays, and this meal is a worthwhile occasional indulgence. Especially with cherry-pinot noir sauce!

Let’s talk about that sauce!

Now that you’re feeling confident about achieving the perfectly crispy duck breast skin, take a look at this flavorful, sweet and savory sauce, made from dark cherries, shallots, chicken stock and Pinot noir. Though we are definitely not in cherry season, this recipe is great because it uses frozen dark cherries. Pinot noir is the perfect complement to this, and the shallot, chicken stock and red wine vinegar provide a savory backdrop to keep this from feeling too sweet.

As you will see, this recipe makes quite a bit of sauce and each duck breast is about half a pound, so the whole thing is really suited to serving four people. Les and I got a little carried away because the flavors were so mouthwatering and we knew it would lose that perfect, crispy texture as leftovers. Get the base of the sauce started while the duck is cooking and just keep it warm on the back burner until serving time.

Time to plate this gorgeous meal!

The sauce finishes quickly in the same skillet used to cook the duck, and you’ll get to enjoy all the little fond bits of flavor that were left behind in the pan.

Place each breast on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut 1/2-inch slices. The meat should be bright pink and juicy with a thin layer of succulent fat under the crispy skin.

If I could go back in time to one step of this recipe, I’d plate the sauce before the duck breast, just to show off that incredible crispy skin. I do recommend sauce underneath the duck breast if you’re serving company, as we all know people eat with their eyes first. But we can confirm that it was just as delicious with the sauce on top, and if nothing else, it helped keep the duck warm as we savored every last delicious, cherry-kissed bite.

Crispy Five Spice Duck with Cherry-Pinot Noir Sauce

Servings: 4
Prep Time: About 15 minutes, plus several hours for dry brining
Cook Time: 45 minutes total
Difficulty: Intermediate
Print

There's a lot to love about this dish, from the crispy skin to the flavorful sauce. It is definitely special occasion-worthy!

Ingredients

2 individual duck breasts, about 8 oz. each
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. five spice powder
2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar
1/4 cup good quality Pinot Noir (save the rest for dinner)
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 cup good chicken stock
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 heaping cup frozen dark sweet cherries
1 medium shallot, minced

The trick to getting the crispiest skin begins with a dry brine on the duck breasts and a stone-cold skillet at the start of cooking. Render the fat slowly and drain off the excess as it accumulates, saving the fat to fry up the most delicious potatoes your taste buds will ever enjoy.

If you wish to make this dish without alcohol, substitute tart cherry juice for the Pinot Noir and reduce or omit the red wine vinegar.

Directions

Pat the duck breasts dry with paper towels. Use a sharp knife to score the fatty skin only of the duck breast pieces. Make your cuts about 1/2-inch apart, in a crosshatch pattern. Take care not to cut the meat.
Combine the salt and five spice powder and sprinkle all over both sides of the duck breasts, rubbing it into the scored fat side. Place the breasts on a plate and rest, uncovered, in the fridge for about six hours.
Begin the flavor base for the sauce by combining sugar, wine, vinegar and chicken stock in a small saucepan. Bring to a slight boil then add the frozen cherries and simmer until cherries are softened. Keep warm.
Place a COLD cast iron skillet onto a burner over medium heat. Immediately place the duck breasts, skin side-down, into the skillet. Don’t disturb the breasts until the fat begins to render. Carefully drain off excess fat by holding the breasts in place with a spatula or tongs and pouring off the fat into a bowl, jar or a second skillet. This helps reduce the amount of spattering. You’ll likely need to do this twice during the rendering process.
Cook the skin side of the duck breasts for about 11 minutes, or until the bottom is deep golden in color and very crispy. Gently turn the breasts to cook the second side for only about two minutes. Transfer the breasts to a warm plate while you finish the sauce.
Drain off all but a tablespoon of the duck fat and add the minced shallots to the skillet, tossing until slightly tender. Pour in the reserved Pinot Noir-cherry mixture and bring to a boil, scraping up any bits that are stuck to the pan. Allow this to simmer for a few minutes until some of the liquid evaporates and the sauce is slightly thickened.
Slice the crispy duck breasts into 1/2-inch thick slices and serve immediately with the sauce.

If you’ll be frying up the potatoes, boil Yukon golds in advance (skin-on) until they are about half-cooked. Cool them to room temperature and slice into 1/2-inch rounds. Fry in hot duck fat until both sides are crispy, and season with salt immediately.

Just for fun…

Les and I had some flashbacks during the making of this recipe, because I had first prepared it on Valentine’s Day three years earlier, just one month before Covid disrupted everything known to mankind. He had snapped a picture of me at the stove, wine glass in-hand, stirring the sauce. I was oblivious to what he was doing at the time, but he recognized my passion for cooking and has been my biggest supporter since I started my food blog two months later. When I made the dish again this year, we tried to replicate that photo, but with our beautiful new kitchen and a perfected crispy duck technique. Cheers!

Homemade “Cherry Garcia” Ice Cream

8 Comments February 11, 2022 terrie gura

When you’re in love, you do crazy things. Not that making your sweetheart’s favorite foods is crazy, mind you, but I do think it’s possible to push the envelope quite far, as I have done at times in my quest to tantalize my husband’s taste buds. This dessert might qualify, because not only did I make a homemade version of his favorite ice cream, I scooped that deliciousness right over a chocolate waffle and drizzled it with a homemade cherry syrup.

Les’s all-time favorite sweet flavor combination is chocolate with cherries, and I have mentioned this previously on Comfort du Jour, in these scrumptious posts:

Chocolate-Cherry Tiramisu

by terrie gura February 17, 2021

Triple Chocolate Cherry Brownie Bowls

by terrie gura October 9, 2020

Black Forest Cake

by terrie gura January 27, 2022

All those desserts were delicious, but when it comes to cherry and chocolate, it is unquestionably ice cream that wins my man’s heart. One of his favorite grocery store ice creams is the Ben & Jerry’s classic flavor, Cherry Garcia, and though I made it back in October 2020 for the triple chocolate-cherry brownie bowls, I felt that it needed a little tweaking, so I didn’t share the recipe at the time. The color of my first batch was off, because I had used my go-to custard base that had a yellowish tint from the egg yolks. And the chocolate chunks were 70% cacao, which proved to be too bitter and a touch gritty in the mix of so much creaminess.

So, I did what I do best and gave the recipe a makeover. And I’m back to share it with you—a homemade version of “Cherry Garcia” ice cream—one that uses sweetened condensed milk in its base, for creamy sweetness without the yellow egg color, a ribbon of sweet-tart cherry syrup that is tinged with a surprise ingredient, and bits of semi-sweet chocolate that bring just the right balance to the sweet cream, vanilla and cherries.

And, in a bold move, I gave it a go with a recipe I’d been eyeing for years on King Arthur Baking’s website—sourdough chocolate malt waffles. This dessert was nothing short of spectacular.

Over the top? Obviously, but c’mon, we’re talking about Valentine’s Day!

Before I get into the making of this lovely dessert, let me acknowledge that a few of you may not be inclined to go this crazy, or maybe you don’t have an ice cream machine yet, or you don’t have sourdough starter to make the chocolate waffles. Please feel free to lift any single part of this dessert for your own celebration, even if it means just making the cherry syrup to drizzle over store-bought ice cream, or serving the ice cream with a store-bought chocolate cookie. I ended up making a second batch of the cherry syrup (with chunks of cherries), and it was fantastic over plain vanilla ice cream.

My ingredients and instructions are all included in a downloadable PDF at the end of the post. Enjoy!

“Cherry Garcia” Ice Cream Base

This is my go-to ice cream ingredient list when I don’t want a custard base.
No extra sugar is needed for this base because the condensed milk is just right!
Add the whole milk to the condensed milk and whisk them together first.
These two ingredients are so different texture-wise that I want them to be thoroughly blended before adding the cream. Too much whisking would make the cream frothy.
My vanilla extract was a brand new bottle, and I made a total mess while taking this picture! When are they going to put dropper lids on these things?
I ended up using more vanilla than I intended, but it turned out fine as a backdrop to all the cherry flavor yet to come. 😉
If you happen to have a jar of these cocktail cherries in the fridge, add some of the syrup to the ice cream base.
It’s dark, rich, sweet and so ridiculously CHERRY! I added two full tablespoons to my base.
I hardly ever add food color to anything, but the cherry syrup made my base look grayish. A few drops of natural red coloring helped correct it.
Finally, blend the heavy cream into the base.
The color was a pretty pink and the flavor was perfectly cherry-sweet-vanilla. Cover and refrigerate several hours to overnight.

Cherry Swirl Syrup

Pulse half of the frozen cherries in a food processor (or chop them roughly by hand) and transfer them immediately back to the freezer. You’ll mix them into the ice cream later.
Add sugar and real cherry juice to the remaining frozen cherries, and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
A few tablespoons of light corn syrup prevents the sugars from crystallizing when it’s cooled.
My secret ingredient! Les and I picked this up in a gourmet shop on a recent trip to Alexandria, VA. The balsamic intensifies the sweet cherry flavors in the sauce.
Finally, just because almond pairs so nicely with cherry, I splashed in about an ounce of amaretto. Skip this if you’re feeding kids or non-drinkers.
Scoop out the cherries (I’ll come back to them later) and strain the syrup through a mesh sieve to filter any solid bits.
If you have small squeeze bottles, transfer 1/2 cup of the syrup into one for easy layering into the ice cream later.

Sourdough Chocolate Malt Waffles

Adapted from Chocolate Malt Waffles | King Arthur Baking

I lined up all the ingredients for King Arthur’s “Chocolate Malt Waffles,” including the overnight starter. I made a half-batch and still had enough for three Belgian waffles.
When I was mixing the starter into the fudgy liquid mixture, it reminded me of the sourdough chocolate cake I made a few weeks earlier.
And I remembered that my blog buddy Sandy suggested the Danish dough whisk for mixing the sloppy ingredients together. I’m teachable, so I grabbed mine for this work! 🙂
This was much easier than folding with a spoon or spatula. Thank you, Sandy!
I held my breath, hoping the mini chocolate chips would not stick to my Belgian waffle maker. (They didn’t.)
I didn’t use enough batter in the first waffle, and it spread unevenly when I flipped the iron over.
It was very lacy and it twisted out of shape when I pulled it from the iron. Oops!
Second waffle was better but still very delicate and tough to remove. King Arthur cautioned that they’d be very soft right after baking, and they weren’t kidding.
Third time’s a charm! This one was perfect, and all we needed for our over-the-top dessert. After cooling a few minutes, the waffle crisped right up.

Freezing the Cherry Garcia Ice Cream

When the ice cream base is completely chilled, pour it into your machine and follow manufacturer’s instructions for freezing. Mine takes about 25 minutes.
When the ice cream is soft-serve consistency, add the frozen cherry bits and churn until they are incorporated.
A splash of vodka in the final minute ensures a perfectly scoopable texture, straight from the freezer. This is optional and I would not recommend it if you’ll be serving kids or non-drinkers.
Time to layer the ice cream! Pour about 1/3 of the mixture into an insulated container.
This time, I used semi-sweet chocolate chunks, rough-chopped a little smaller.
Scatter 1/2 of the chocolate bits and squeeze a generous drizzle of the cherry syrup.
Second verse, same as the first… Then, top it with the final 1/3 of ice cream. Save remaining syrup for topping ice cream, or add it back to the original cherry sauce.
Just to be fancy, I used a spatula to swirl the top just a bit. Cover and freeze overnight.

Chocolate-Cherry Heaven, Coming Right Up!

The vodka mixed in at the end made this ice cream a dream to scoop. If you skip the vodka, take the ice cream out of the freezer about 10 minutes early to soften slightly.
I don’t need to explain this, right?
For our later servings of ice cream, we served scoops with some of that scrumptious reserved cherry sauce.
Grab a spoon!

Cherry Garcia Ice CreamBig Yum!

Black Forest Cake

11 Comments January 27, 2022 terrie gura

Before we get into it, I’d like to issue my own disclaimer about the inauthenticity of this recipe as a “Black Forest” cake. Any purist would quickly point out that a true, German Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte would be more of a spongy chocolate cake, soaked with kirsch (a clear cherry liqueur) and decorated with whipped cream, sour cherries and shavings of chocolate. But when is the last time you remember me sticking to tradition?

My version of this cake is a departure in almost every category, save for the chocolate and cherry flavors. Cake baking is not in my wheelhouse, so I went for a recipe that I knew I could count on—a sourdough chocolate cake from King Arthur Baking that has served me well before—and I adjusted the fillings to match it. My whipped cream filling is enhanced with mascarpone, making it more substantial to support the sturdy cake. The cake itself is not super sweet, so the cherries had to be. And kirsch liqueur (or any cherry liqueur, for that matter) is nowhere to be found in our liquor stores, so I reached straight for what’s plentiful at our house—bourbon, and that was a very good call.

The cake is not difficult to make, but it is fussy enough that it deserves a special occasion. I was going to save this until the week of Valentine’s Day, but my husband heard on his favorite sports talk show this morning that today is National Chocolate Cake Day, so, heck yeah! We might as well get a jump start on swooning over it. 😉

Every slice has a great balance of cherry and chocolate. Who cares if it isn’t a *true* Black Forest cake? 🙂

We splurged on this decadent, multi-layer dessert to finish our New Year’s Eve meal of White Clam Pizza and our newest addition, the Oysters Rockefeller Pizza, and the cake was delicious for the occasion (and, remarkably, just as good later as leftovers straight from the fridge).

Frosting a cake requires patience that I do not have (especially at the holidays), so I went for a more rustic appearance, which also afforded us a glimpse of the yumminess that was to come, in the form of mascarpone cream and cherries hanging out the sides. There was no whipped cream wrapped around the outside of my cake and no shavings of chocolate, as one would find on a true Black Forest Cake. But it was delicious, with a capital D.

My layers were a little uneven, but the flavors were phenomenal.

So, is it authentic Black Forest Cake? No, but “Sourdough Dark Chocolate Cake with Bourbon-Soaked Cherry and Mascarpone Filling with Ganache Topping” is a mouthful. Plus, it didn’t fit in the title box. 😉

Ingredients

1 recipe Sourdough Chocolate Cake | King Arthur Baking, baked in 9-inch layer pans* (see instruction notes)

Bourbon Cherries and Syrup

1 lb. bag frozen dark sweet cherries

1/2 cup organic cane sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened black cherry juice

2 oz. bourbon

Mascarpone Filling

1 cup heavy cream

8 oz. tub mascarpone

1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp. real vanilla extract

Ganache Topping

8 oz. dark melting chocolate wafers

1 cup heavy cream

1 oz. amaretto (optional)

8 bourbon cherries or morello cherries, with stems (for decorating cake top)

Instructions

Bake the cake as instructed on King Arthur website. I followed the instructions with one ingredient adjustment; I replaced half of the natural cocoa with KA’s Double Dark Dutch Cocoa. I am crazy about the deep, dark color and chocolate flavor! Also, I baked it in two buttered and cocoa-dusted 9-inch layer pans rather than the 9 x 13 that was suggested, and the cake was done in 30 minutes. Cool the cake layers completely before removing them from the pans.

Not riding the sourdough train? No problem; use any other dark chocolate cake recipe you like, provided the layers are sturdy.

For the cherry syrup, mascarpone filling and shiny ganache topping, I’ll provide a visual walkthrough, and you can scroll to the bottom of the post for a printable recipe if you want to give it a go in your kitchen. Happy Chocolate Cake Day! 🙂

Combine the frozen cherries and sugar in a saucepan.
Add the unsweetened black cherry juice and bring to a slight boil.
When the syrup has simmered a few minutes, drain the cherries into a bowl and return the syrup to the pan.
Pour bourbon over the strained cherries and steep until they are cooled.
Simmer the syrup over medium heat until reduced to 2/3 cup.
Drain the cherries again and add the bourbon syrup to the other syrup.
Transfer the syrup into a squeeze bottle if you have one; I found it an easy way to distribute the syrup over the cake layers.
Sift powdered sugar into the heavy cream.
Whip the sweetened cream until soft and lightly fluffy.
Add the mascarpone and whip on low speed until until combined.
Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the syrup into the mascarpone and fold until blended.
Transfer the mascarpone cream to a large zip-top bag and put it in the refrigerator.
To slice the cake layers, I used a long piece of unflavored dental floss.
The layers may not be totally perfect, but that’s OK.
When you’re ready to assemble the cake, smear a small amount of mascarpone cream onto the cake platter to stabilize the first layer.
Drizzle about 1/3 of the cherry syrup over the cut side of the cake layer.
The syrup will soak into the cake, drenching every bite with the bourbon-cherry flavors.
Snip the corner of the mascarpone cream bag and pipe about 1/4 of it onto the soaked cake layer. Spread gently to get more coverage, or just fill in with a few dots of additional cream.
Arrange 1/3 of the drunken cherries onto the mascarpone cream. Repeat with the next two layers, saving a rounded piece for the top.
Pipe some of the remaining mascarpone cream around the top edge of the final layer. Refrigerate the cake while you make the ganache.
To make the ganache, heat heavy cream over medium-low heat until steaming. Pour over chocolate and leave it alone for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, blend with a whisk, stirring mainly in the center of the bowl.
At first, it will seem like it isn’t working, but stay with it.
Aha! Continue to whisk until the entire mixture is smooth and chocolatey.
This is what my ganache looked like after only one minute of whisking.
Stir in a small amount of corn syrup for a glossy shine and to keep the sugars from crystallizing.
Just for fun, I whisked in a half shot of amaretto. We like it in bourbon-cherry cocktails, and it worked here as well.
Slowly pour the cooled ganache onto the cake. The ganache will run off the center of the cake, but the mascarpone will keep it from running off. Keep pouring.
I poured the ganache right to the top of the edge. When the ganache has set, cover and refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.
Just before serving, pipe on the last bit of mascarpone cream, making little cushions for the bourbon cherries. Serve immediately.
The cake keeps very well in the fridge, and we decided the flavors were even better after a day or two!

Black Forest CakePrint the recipe!

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Old Fashioned

5 Comments February 12, 2021 terrie gura

The whole world seemed to be holding its breath this time last year, as health officials everywhere began sounding major alarms about the potential dangers of COVID-19. If I had known that Valentine’s Day would be one of the last opportunities for life as we knew it—well, I might have made an exception for my usual “let’s stay at home and celebrate” attitude.

Or maybe not. I’ve never quite appreciated the way the food service industry has dealt with Valentine’s Day—raising prices while simultaneously reducing menu options doesn’t seem terribly romantic, just opportunistic. I put this couple’s night out in the same category as New Year’s Eve. Why in the world would a restaurant place restrictions on a “special” occasion, as if they are not capable of handling a full house with their regular menu? It shouldn’t be much different from a typical busy Saturday night. I don’t get it.

Happily though, I love the anticipation of preparing a special dinner at home, and for Valentine’s Day, I pull out all the stops to make decadent dishes for the love of my life. ❤

I have mentioned previously that my husband, Les, is completely crazy over anything that combines chocolate and cherry, as with the triple chocolate-cherry brownie bowls I shared from his birthday last summer, and the entire Valentine’s meal I made for us last year, only a few weeks before I started Comfort du Jour. It was “all about the cherries” for that occasion, and I prepared duck breast with a cherry-pinot noir sauce (it’s what I was making in the “about me” photo in the section at the right, plus chocolate crepes filled with mascarpone and topped with cherry-chocolate sauce, and we began the evening with this candy-inspired cocktail—the Chocolate-Covered Cherry Old Fashioned. Les and I had made fast friends with the classic Old Fashioned, and I knew the cherry and chocolate would give it a perfect twist.

My Valentine’s favorite flavor combination, in a romantic cocktail!

During the holidays this year, we were introduced by his daughter to the most incredible chocolate covered cherries of all time, sold by Trader Joe’s. These sweet little nuggets pack a lot of decadence into one bite, including a rich dark chocolate jacket and a silky, boozy liqueur floating around a candied cherry. It is not unusual for us to choose these little gems for satisfying our post-dinner sweet tooth. We will be bummed when the box is empty, as we will have to wait until next holiday season to get more of them.

This riff on a classic rocks drink replicates the decadent experience of that limited-edition treat, combining the sweetness of cherry and the romance of Valentine’s chocolate with the spirit of bourbon. At our house, we love the accent of almond with cherry and chocolate, so there’s a little splash of amaretto in the cocktail as well. Whether you’re staying home to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a loved one, or simply to enjoy the pleasure of your own company (as you absolutely should), I hope you’ll enjoy this special sweetheart of a cocktail.

Ingredients

Makes one cocktail; simply double ingredients if making for two.

Find the chocolate bitters and cherries in a gourmet shop or online. The Luxardo cherries are, in my opinion, well worth the typical $20.

1.5 oz. bourbon (Elijah Craig Small Batch is on my bar right now)

0.5 oz. (1 Tbsp.) Godiva dark chocolate liqueur

0.5 oz. cherry juice (I used Trader Joe’s, but any brand is fine)

0.25 oz. (1 1/2 tsp.) amaretto

1 bar spoon (about 1/2 tsp.) syrup from Luxardo cocktail cherries* (see notes)

3 drops chocolate bitters*

To garnish:

Cocoa powder (for rimming the glass)

Premium cocktail cherry (such as Luxardo)

*Notes

For the love of cocktails, please put away the artificial maraschino cherries! The Luxardo cherries mentioned here are the Ferrari of all cocktail garnishes, produced in Italy using real Marasca cherries that are macerated in Luxardo maraschino liqueur and packed in the resulting syrup. They are pricey, but completely worth it, and a jar will last a long time. Find these in gourmet shops, the cocktail mixers section of a high-end supermarket or online.

My chocolate bitters are produced by Woodford Reserve (the bourbon maker) and they add depth, not bitterness, to a cocktail. Find them in the cocktail mixers section, perhaps at Total Wine or online.

Instructions

Prepare a double rocks cocktail glass by wetting the rim with a small amount of chocolate liqueur, holding the glass upside-down so that the liqueur doesn’t run down the sides. Then roll only the outside edge of the cocktail glass into a bit of the cocoa powder. This keeps the cocoa outside the drink, giving you an extra hint of chocolate on every sip. Do this a bit ahead of time so that the cocoa rim has time to dry and set up on the glass.

Use your fingertip to wet the very edge of the glass with the chocolate liqueur.

At cocktail time, combine bourbon, chocolate liqueur, amaretto, cherry juice, syrup and bitters in a cocktail mixing glass. Add a cup of ice and stir about 20 seconds to chill down the cocktail mixture. Strain into the cocoa-rimmed glass over a giant ice cube. Garnish with a good cocktail cherry (or take it home by skewering an actual cordial cherry).

The syrup in the Luxardo cherries is thick, sweet and just the right thing to add a “candy” element to my cocktail.

If you really want to go crazy with the garnish, gently push your cocktail pick directly through a chocolate covered cherry. Pure decadence!

Want to make this special cocktail?

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Old Fashioned❤

Triple Chocolate Cherry Brownie Bowls

10 Comments October 9, 2020 terrie gura

There’s dessert for the sake of a sweet tooth, and then there’s DESSERT, as is the case with this ultra-chocolate-y, cherry-infused brownie bowl, packed with “Cherry Garcia” vanilla ice cream, studded with sweet cherries and dark chocolate chunks. Oh, and I almost forgot, the cherry syrup. Over the top? Obviously! But this was a birthday dessert a few weeks ago for my husband, Les, who is himself a little “over the top” crazy about any and all chocolate and cherry combinations. And for such an occasion, during a year that has given us too much to worry about and not enough to celebrate, I went all in.

Well, almost. I did take one easy shortcut and I’m not ashamed to share my little secret with you—I never make brownies from scratch. I have a favorite box brownie mix that meets all my picky ingredient requirements, so why put forth the effort to make it “as good as” theirs, when they already have a product that is a winner every time? Ghirardelli dark chocolate is my go-to, and though the brownies are terrific as directed on the box, I sometimes can’t help but elevate them with my own “extras” to highlight certain aspects of the brownies’ personality. It’s easier than you might expect.

For these birthday brownie bowls, I’ve substituted cherry juice for the water called for on the package instructions, and I’ve added a tablespoon of dark cocoa powder plus a handful each of chocolate chunks and cut up dried cherries. That’s it. The simplest flavor swaps, resulting in the most decadent dessert my hubby could have ever asked for on his birthday (or any other occasion). Luckily, for our ever-expanding pandemic waistlines, it will be another year before we indulge to this degree. But it was kinda worth it. 🙂

Chocolate, cherries, more chocolate, brownie, cherry sauce. What could possibly go wrong?

These brownies are super-sized and shaped like a bowl, exactly right to hold a generous scoop of ice cream (which I did make from scratch, but don’t feel pressured to do so). The special shape is courtesy of a fancy-schmancy pan I bought from King Arthur Baking Company. At $30, it was a bit of a splurge, but in this most ridiculous year, I’ve been willing to invest a bit more in kitchen gadgets and ingredients to make our home meal experiences more memorable. Mark my word, it’ll pay for itself by the time the holidays get here, because I’m already dreaming up other ideas.

The pan has a no-fail nonstick coating. The brownie bowl holds a perfect scoop of ice cream.

If you’re not feeling the love for a special pan to make bowl-shaped brownies, don’t stress about it. Make the brownies in a regular pan according to the mix instructions. You can still swap in the special flavor ingredients and have a spectacular dessert with minimal effort. Remember, stressed spelled backward = desserts, and I’m all about flipping things around! 🙂

Ingredients & Instructions

1 box of your favorite brownie mix (make according to package instructions, but adjust as noted below)

Substitute cherry juice for the water to infuse an extra layer of flavor into the brownies.
The liquid ingredients already have a dark, rich color.
The extra dark cocoa adds a layer of chocolate-y depth.
The dried cherries are so dark and delicious! Fold gently to incorporate these final add-ins.
A boxed brownie mix usually yields about 16 brownies. By comparison, this pan yields only six “brownie bowls.” They’re huge!
If you use this special pan, reduce the oven time. These were done in about 25 minutes.

Substitute equal amount of cherry juice for the suggested amount of water

Add 1 Tbsp. dark cocoa powder to the dry mix (Hershey’s special dark will do, and it’s easy to find)

Add 1/2 cup dried dark cherries, cut into smaller pieces (fold in after mixing)

Add 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks or semi-sweet chocolate chips (fold in after mixing)

Bake as directed on the package, but if you use the King Arthur brownie bowl pan, you’ll want to cut the time in half. My brownies were perfect after 25 minutes.

Fill ‘em up!

Cherry Garcia ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s (or whatever other ice cream rocks your world)

I made my own version of “cherry Garcia,” but we usually purchase the Ben & Jerry’s brand, which is great!

Top ‘em off!

Hot fudge topping, whipped cream, or (if you’re feeling inspired) my quick homemade cherry sauce.

Cherry on top of cherries! This sauce is easy to make and also happens to be excellent on crepes or any kind of ice cream.

**Cherry Sauce*:**

2 cup frozen dark sweet cherries

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla or almond extract (or 1 Tbsp. amaretto liqueur or chocolate liqueur)

1 Tbsp. dark chocolate balsamic vinegar* (optional)

2 Tbsp. corn starch, mixed with 2 Tbsp. ice cold water

Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add frozen cherries and sprinkle sugar over the top. Stir and cook until cherries are softened and mixture is reduced and bubbly (about 15 minutes). Add extract or liqueur and stir. Blend corn starch and water until smooth, and slowly drizzle into the cherry sauce, stirring constantly. Allow mixture to come back up to full simmer, and continue to stir as it thickens further. Remove from heat. Use the sauce warm over dessert or keep in refrigerator up to two weeks.

*This time around, I strained the cherries from the sauce because they went into the ice cream. Half of the sauce was drizzled through the ice cream like a ribbon, and the rest was reserved for spooning over the brownie bowls. It was a delicious labor of love!

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Cherry Amaretto Upside-down Skillet Cake

3 Comments September 9, 2020 terrie gura

A great meal deserves a sweet, delicious ending, and this one showcases the plump and luscious dark red cherries that were everywhere this summer. The cake is moist and flavorful, rich with buttermilk, almond flour, eggs and real butter, and the buttery brown sugar topping is a little on the boozy side, plus the deep, dark sweet cherries. And the whole thing is elegantly draped with a dollop of amaretto-spiked whipped cream.

If you aren’t wild about cherries (or maybe you aren’t wild about knocking out the pits), substitute fresh peaches, plums, nectarines, blackberries—well, I think you get the idea. But these cherries!

To tackle the unenviable job of pitting the cherries, I purchased a nifty device that gets the job done, six cherries at a time! If you’ve ever tried pitting cherries without a tool, you know that it cannot be done without making a huge mess. In previous attempts, I’ve balanced the cherries—one at a time, of course—on the neck of an empty wine bottle, then held the cherry while shoving the end of a chopstick through it. It left holes in the cherries, the pits inside the bottle, and red juice stains all over everything else in the room, including me. It’s the reason that, for the most part, I’ve relied on frozen cherries whenever I wanted to make a cherry dessert. I adore fresh cherries, but I’d only bought them to snack on, and only when I was flying solo because the whole spitting-out-the-pits part conjured memories of the 1987 film The Witches of Eastwick. There’s just no way to do it gracefully.

Suffice to say, this $15 tool has changed the game for me. After rinsing the cherries and pulling off the stems, I loaded them into the tray and pressed the top down. Boom!

And just like that, the pits are pushed out the bottom and into a receptacle, leaving the cherries intact but devoid of pits. I finished the entire bowlful in about 8 minutes. I’m not prone to give kudos for “uni-task” tools, but this one really took the pain out of what would otherwise make me choose a different dessert. Besides, as I reminded my husband, Les, this will also come in handy when I need to pit whole olives (which I’ve never tried but now I can).

After the cherries were pitted, I got busy making the topping, which goes into the skillet first. This part of the recipe felt familiar because I’ve made a similar upside-down skillet cake with peaches. I start by melting butter with brown sugar, then adding amaretto to the mix for a subtle almond flavor that echoes what will be going on later in the cake batter. The cake is easy to make, too—cream together the sugar and butter, add the eggs and flavor enhancers, and then alternate the dry ingredients with buttermilk until it’s ready to spread over the topping. The rest of the delicious magic happens in the oven.

When the brown sugar and butter mixture is bubbly and foamy, swirl in the amaretto.

It’s best to invert the cake onto a plate while it’s still warm, but be careful handling the hot skillet!

This cake has a dense, but not heavy texture, and the warm almond flavor permeates every layer while the soft, juicy cherries satisfy the sweet tooth. It keeps well, too, which is always a bonus in our empty nest household. As odd as it may sound, Les and I found that we enjoyed this cake even more a couple days after I baked it—ice-cold, straight from the refrigerator. The cake part remained moist (thank you, buttermilk!), and the cherry flavor was more pronounced.

Leftovers. The cake remained moist in the fridge, and the deep cherry color seeped further into the cake. This is a delicious dessert for late summer!

Ready to make it?

Ingredients

4 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cane sugar

1.5 oz. amaretto* (see notes)

About 3 cups pitted fresh dark cherries

1 cup all-purpose flour*

3/4 cup almond flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 cup cane sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, softened but not melted

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

1 Tbsp. amaretto (optional)*

1 cup buttermilk*

Whipped cream for serving, if desired

*Notes

Amaretto is an Italian, almond-based liqueur. It is lower proof than whiskey or vodka, slightly sweet and plays very nicely with cherries. If you avoid alcohol, you can get close to this flavor with almond extract. Drizzle 1 teaspoon over the cherry mixture and increase to 2 teaspoons in the cake. Real almond extract, by the way, also usually contains alcohol as a suspension for the almond flavor, but the amount will be minimal.

Remember the rule for measuring flour? In baked goods such as this, using the correct amount will really make a difference. Dipping your measuring cup straight into the flour container is a sure-fire way to have a dry and crumbly cake. I trust a kitchen scale for most of my baking, but if you don’t have one, follow the simple “fluff, sprinkle, level” method—fluff the flour with a whisk or fork, sprinkle it over the dry measuring cup to overflowing, level it off with the back of a knife.

Don’t be tempted to substitute regular milk for the buttermilk in this recipe. The acidity in the buttermilk will lend a subtle tanginess to the cake, and it also reacts with the baking powder and soda for leavening.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°.
Place a 10” cast iron skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter, then add the brown sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture appears lightly foamy.
Pour in the amaretto and swirl gently to evenly distribute throughout the butter and sugar mixture. Remove from heat and arrange the cherries close together over the mixture.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, almond flour, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until it’s evenly combined and fluffy. Add one egg and beat until smooth, repeat with the second egg. Then, beat in vanilla and almond extracts, plus additional amaretto, if desired.
Beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, blending only until dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Beat in half the buttermilk until smooth. Repeat with flour and buttermilk, then the remaining flour.
Pour the batter evenly over the cherries in the skillet. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula to evenly distribute the thick batter.
Slide the skillet into the oven and bake about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool at least 15 minutes before inverting it to a large serving platter. To do this successfully, first slide a butter knife around the edges of the cake, to loosen any areas where it might be sticking. Center the plate, face-side down, over the skillet, then carefully hold the skillet and plate together and turn them over. I’ve found this to be easy, as long as you don’t allow the cake to cool too long. If it sticks too much to release, turn the pan right side up again and briefly heat it over a low burner. This will melt and soften the butter again for easier release.

Allow the cake to cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve with a dollop of freshly whipped cream (spike with amaretto, if you wish).

Store leftovers in the fridge, covered with foil or plastic wrap.

This recipe makes about 8 servings, and a dollop of fresh whipped cream is a perfect topper.

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