Cheery Cherry Pudding Cake

Last night's dinner was all about Southern Illinois BBQ Sandwiches and I know I've told you about them several times before because it's a fabulous way to enjoy leftover pork roast so instead of boring you with it again, I'm going to tell you about our sweet treat for the week instead.

This Cherry Pudding Cake recipe is a combination of recipes from a couple of sources - Taste of the Territory, Flair and Flavor of Oklahoma cookbook and another treasure from the same state, Pioneer Woman. 

Loaded with tart cherries (I used a jar of German cherries from Trader Joe's), I changed out my version to include buttermilk instead of whole milk and toasted almonds instead of pecans - have you SEEN the price of pecans these days?.  Oh, I cut down on the sugar too and with the added bonus of a mere 2 tablespoons of butter in the pudding and an additional 2 in the sauce, it means it is lite in my book.  

Just to be ornery, I baked my cheery cherry pudding cakes in individual ramekins and topped 'em with a sparkling ruby colored sauce made from the cherry juice and a little sugar as soon as the golden puddings came out of the oven.  I love how they look that way, plus if there's just two of you, you can enjoy a couple right away and freeze some for later. (Uh, ya right) 

Refrigerated then flipped out of the ramekin on a puddle of reserved sauce, this little cherry cutie is topped with a spoonful of sour cream mixed with a package of equal and a drop or two of vanilla. Hey, we don't have ice cream in the house ever because I eat it all and I didn't have any whipping cream (imagine that) so this was a perfect solution. It's tart semi-sour-semi- sweet flavor really adds a creamy boost to the pudding - heck even you know who liked it and he's a bit of a purist. He doesn't like ice cream or whipped cream on his dessert. 

This great old fashioned sweet treat gets better with time because the cherry flavor really intensifies as it sits in the refrigerator, but you'll have to put a padlock on the fridge door if you've future plans for it. Honest. It's that good!

Just in case you can't enjoy dessert before you've had dinner, here's a pic of last night's plate of fabulousness - is that word? Kinda' makes you want to cook a pork roast, doesn't it?

Old Fashioned Cherry Pudding Cake (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from Taste of the Territory, Flair and Flavor of Oklahoma Cookbook and Pioneer Woman)

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons softened butter

1 large egg

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Dash salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 – 16 ounce can sour cherries in light syrup (reserve juices)

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 325. Butter 6 – eight ounce ramekins or (4 – ten ounce) and dust lightly with granulated sugar, shaking any excess sugar out of the ramekins. Place ramekins on a sheet pan and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter and mix together with a wooden spoon until light. Beat in egg and almond extract until mixture is very smooth. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter/sugar/egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixing well after each addition. Carefully fold in drained cherries and slivered almonds. Divide mixture evenly between ramekins and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on size of ramekins, or until cakes are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on wire rack.

Sauce:

1 cup juice from cherries – add water to make up any difference

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla OR ¼ teaspoon almond extract

While cakes are in the oven, mix sugar together with cornstarch until well blended. Whisk cherry juice into mixture, then heat mixture until it comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Set aside.

Immediately after removing cakes from the oven, pour sauce over top, reserving approximately a quarter cup for garnishing. Cool cakes slightly, then cover and refrigerate.

For serving, drizzle a small amount of sauce onto a plate. Run a knife around the inside of the ramekin to loosen cake, and then flip out onto serving plate. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream OR mix together a half cup of sour cream with 1 package Equal (or 1 tablespoon sugar) and a few drops of vanilla. Drop a tablespoon of mixture on top of each serving of pudding. 

A year ago - Mache Salad with Apples, Dried Cherries and Pork Tenderloin

Two year's ago - Great Northern Bean Salad with Country Style Ribs

Comments

[Lea]

Nom, Nom - those dishes look delish! I would devour both to be sure!
BUT - YOU have NO cream in the house??????? I just got the chills...

[June]

Ha,ha,ha. Funny lady Lea. I know it doesn't happen very often does it.

[Lorraine]

Boy, what a great looking dinner. I have swiped the pork recipe before, and now looks like I have a new cherry recipe too! :) You really are cleaning out the kitchen.

[June]

We really like the pudding because it is not as sweet as some desserts and it sure does get better with time, if you can ignore the temptation. Ha. Yes, the kitchen's getting its annual purge - 2 more weeks!