Kirsebærkage - Danish Cherry Cake

This kirsebærkage aka Danish cherry cake is baked with fresh cherries. It is easy to make and even easier to eat, with a tender crumb and golden top.

Last month we spent a week in France reveling in the fabulous fresh produce, shopping and cooking and eating extremely well in our little cottage with a sea view.

The very first day, before we even checked in to the Airbnb, we stopped at a supermarket to pick up dinner supplies and came across a great sale on cherries. Only 4 euros a kilo! So about $2 a pound. Now, I know that’s not super cheap in the States where during the summer, cherries can get as low at $1 a pound but on the island of Jersey, we aren’t so lucky.

Anyhoo, all to say, we bought cherries and then before we headed home, we bought even more to take back. 

We’ve got builders in right now, working on an extension to the house so I baked this cake to share with them. Went down a treat!  

Kirsebærkage - Danish Cherry Cake

This recipe is adapted from one on BenedictesMad. She says it’s so easy, even her six-year-old can make it if she preps the ingredients.

Ingredients

8 oz or 225g fresh cherries

3 eggs 

1 1/2 cup or 150g sugar (I used golden caster)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ cup or 113g butter, softened, plus extra for the pan

1 ¼ cups or 156g flour, plus extra for the pan

½ teaspoon baking powder

2 pinches fine sea salt

For topping:

1 tablespoon sugar

Method

First, the hard job. Pit the cherries. Even if you have a cherry pitter, this is a messy job so protect your clothes and work surfaces. We are still in a relative construction zone, cooking in a makeshift kitchen and I couldn’t find mine so I just cut the cherries in half around the pit and removed the pits by prying them out. 

If you pitted yours whole, cut the cherries into halves.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Butter and flour a round baking pan about 9 inches or 23cm in diameter. 

With electric beaters or in the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until light and aerated. 

Add the softened butter and beat again. The batter will look a bit curd-ly but don’t worry. It will turn into a lovely, creamy batter once the flour is added.

Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt.

 Beat again briefly.

Spoon the batter into your prepared pan. Distribute the cherry pieces over the batter. I put them round side up because I thought that would be prettier. If you can’t be bothered, don’t. Taste will be the same! 

Sprinkle with the extra sugar for topping

Bake in your preheated oven for approximately 35-40 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. The aroma while it bakes it ah-mazing! It brought my husband through to ask how the cake was going. 

Turning it out onto a wire rack and leave to cool before cutting into wedges to serve. 

This cake is often served with whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream. We enjoyed it just as it was. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing cakes from around the world in celebration of International Cake Day tomorrow. Many thanks to our host Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below. 

• Carlota de Limon from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Kirsebærkage - Danish Cherry Cake from Food Lust People Love
• Kyiv Cake from A Messy Kitchen
• Madeira Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Persian Love Cake from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Taiwanese Castella Cake from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Topfen-Obers-Torte from Culinary Cam

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join. 

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Mount Vernon Breakfast Gems #BreadBakers

Slightly sweet and nutty from the addition of grits, these breakfast gems are essentially fluffy cornbread muffins baked from a recipe from Mount Vernon, home of George Washington.

I need to preface this post and recipe with the fact that George and Martha Washington, the first president of the United States and his wife, were in fact enslavers of people. When Washington died in 1799, he owned 123 enslaved people outright. He stipulated in his will that they were to be freed following the death of his wife, Martha. 

The majority of the enslaved population at the estate—153 people at the time of his death—were so-called "dower slaves." These individuals belonged to the estate of Martha's first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. Because Washington did not legally own them, he had no legal authority to free them in his will.

I’ve never been to Mount Vernon but many of the facilities you can tour do seem show the enormous backbreaking work of those people, who made it possible for the plantation to function and be profitable. This includes the kitchen. 

According to the website, “George and Martha Washington welcomed thousands of guests to Mount Vernon and were well known for their boundless hospitality, frequent and memorable parties, and the wide variety of culinary treats served.

This was only possible because of the work of enslaved butlers, housemaids, waiters, cooks, and others.”

Whether or not George Washington actually ate breakfast gems is debatable but we do know from records that his favorite breakfast was hoecakes which are small cornmeal pancakes. He ate them smothered in butter and honey. I think he’d have liked these breakfast gems too which have the same cornbread vibe. 

Back then, a gem pan looked like this:

You can buy them online at Ebay and Etsy but they can be quite costly. I used silicone muffin cups. 

Mount Vernon Breakfast Gems

As mentioned above, this recipe is adapted from one on the Mount Vernon website. The ingredients are the same but I’ve attempted to clarify the sketchy method. For instance, the original gave no prior warning that the egg whites needed to be beaten till stiff, until the instruction to add them. 

Ingredients

1/4 cup or 40g grits

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup water

1 cup or 240ml milk

1 cup or 130g cornmeal

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons butter

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

Method

Preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C and either line your 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or use silicone muffin cups. 

Bring a ½ cup or 120ml water to the boil. Add in the grits and salt and cook for a few minutes until thick. Set aside. 

Heat your milk to a simmer. Just as you start to see a little bubble or two, add it to the cornmeal in a large mixing bowl. Stir well to combine. 

Add in the sugar and butter. Stir until the butter is melted and both are fully incorporated.

Add the grits to the cornmeal mixture along with the baking powder. Stir well and set aside to cool. 

Separate the eggs and lightly beat the yolks. 

In a large clean bowl, whisk the whites until stiff peaks form. 

Add the egg yolks to the cornmeal mixture and stir well. 

Gently fold in the egg whites a few spoons at a time until all are folded in.

First addition.

Third and final addition.

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the gems are lightly golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean. 

Take the pan out of the oven and leave to cool before removing the gems from the pan and cooling further on a wire rack. 

These can be eaten warm or at room temperature. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s Bread Bakers day, when my fellow bloggers and I share recipes on a theme. This month it’s American bread, in recognition of the semiquincentennial. Check out the links below.

• All American Batter Bread with Discard from A Messy Kitchen
• American Parker House Rolls from Sneha's Recipe
• Mount Vernon Breakfast Gems from Food Lust People Love
• Spoon Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Cauliflower Spinach Mac and Cheese

With extra protein from cottage cheese and extra creaminess from Laughing Cow triangles, this cauliflower spinach mac and cheese is a tasty delight! And a somewhat healthier comfort food dish. 

When we lived in Paris back when our daughters were little, I used to buy La Vache qui rit - Laughing Cow - cheese as snacks for them because 1. It was creamy and delicious, and 2. The little triangles came individually wrapped which made handing them to small children a breeze, plus 3. They didn’t need to be refrigerated if I was packing them for a trip to the park. Bonus: They are high in the calcium needed for growing bones.

Nowadays, you do find them on display in the refrigerated section of the supermarket but the official website assures me that they are actually shelf stable due to the high temperature at which they are created. 

When I was developing this recipe, I was looking to up my protein intake and cottage cheese came to mind. But cottage cheese, even blended till smooth, isn’t all that creamy and that's when I remembered the triangle cheese and how it's made!

According to the website, “The Laughing Cow cheese is made by mixing milk powder (which is blended with water to bring it back to milk), cheeses and butter with emulsifying salts. The emulsifying salts simply play the same role as the citrate in fondue Savoyarde, stopping separation and creating a lovely creamy texture.” Who doesn't love a cheese fondue? It’s been made that way since 1921!

I also added a good amount of freshly grated Parmesan for more cheesy oomph! This was a hit with my husband who wanted to go back for seconds at dinnertime but restrained himself. But guess what he had for breakfast the next morning. Yep!

Cauliflower Spinach Mac and Cheese

I used the lighter Laughing Cow cheese and low-fat cottage cheese but you can use full fat versions, if desired. I like the little bitty elbow macaroni for this but use whatever kind you can find. Just know that weight will be a more accurate measure than cups, if you do use a bigger macaroni. 

Ingredients

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

8oz or 225g cauliflower florets

8 1/3 oz or 235g baby spinach

6 oz or 170g elbow macaroni (a well-rounded cup)

Olive oil for greasing the baking dish

10oz or 284g low fat cottage cheese

½ cup or 120ml milk

2 tablespoons cornstarch

8 Laughing Cow (light) cheese triangles (120g)

3 ½ oz or 100g Parmesan, grated

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Cayenne, optional

For topping:

1 oz or 28g Parmesan

3 tablespoons panko

Sprinkle paprika or cayenne, optional

Method

Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil with the salt. 

Chop the cauliflower florets roughly and set aside. 

I'm picky about my spinach so even when the bag says "washed and ready to eat," I go through it leaf by leaf, tossing any bruised ones and pulling the stems off. If you aren't so picky, skip this step.

When the water comes to the boil, add in the macaroni and set a timer for four minutes less than the recommended time for cooking it al dente. 

When the timer goes off, add in the cauliflower. 

Cook for one minute less than the prescribed al dente time. 

My macaroni said 9 mins to al dente, so I boiled it 5 minutes to start then added the cauliflower and set a timer for 3 minutes: Only 8 minutes total cooking time for the pasta.  

Drain the macaroni and cauliflower in a colander, retaining some of the water for possible use later. Rest the hot pot off the stove so it can cool a little.

Preheat your oven to 350ºF or 180°C and grease a casserole dish with a little olive oil.

Blend the cottage cheese, milk and cornstarch in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth and creamy.

Pour the mixture into your pasta pot over low-to-medium heat. Cook for a minute or two, stirring well.

Add in the Laughing Cow and grated Parmesan cheeses. 

Stir continuously until the cheeses melt and the sauce is thoroughly heated through and bubbling. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn’t catch. 

Add in the baby spinach and give it a good stir. The spinach will wilt quickly!  

Add in the macaroni and cauliflower. Stir well to thoroughly combine.

Taste the mixture and add salt to your taste, as needed. With all that cheese, you may not need any. Add a few generous grinds of black pepper and a good sprinkle of cayenne, if using, and stir again. If it seems a little dry, you can add a little of the saved pasta water. 

Spoon the mixture into your prepared casserole dish. 

Mix together the topping ingredients.

Sprinkle them evenly on top with some paprika or cayenne, if using.

Bake for 30 minutes in your preheated oven or until the dish is hot and bubbling and golden on top. You can put the broiler/grill on for the last couple of minutes to get the top more brown, if you’d like.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for everyone’s favorite comfort food, mac and cheese! Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below. 

• Baked Penne and Cheese from A Messy Kitchen
• Cauliflower Spinach Mac and Cheese by Food Lust People Love
• Gruyére and Emmentaler Macaroni and Cheese with Ham and Sourdough by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Instant Pot Chicken Mac and Cheese by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Keto Roasted Cauliflower Cheese by Sneha's Recipe
• Spicy Cheezy Orzo by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join. 

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