Honeycakes With Cream Cheese Filling And Cherry Compote Recipes

VANILLA GELATO WITH CHERRY COMPOTE

Steps:

• For the gelato: Add the milk, cream, 1 cup of the sugar and vanilla bean to a 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to combine.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large heatproof bowl until they become lighter in color and the sugar dissolves.
• When the milk mixture is at a simmer, lower the heat to medium. Carefully ladle 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, while whisking, and whisk until fully combined. Repeat this step one more time, then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Add the salt. Cook the mixture while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to stir the corners of the pot. Cook until the mixture thickens and can coat the back of a spoon.
• Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl or pot with water and ice. Carefully strain the mixture into a strainer set over a heatproof bowl. Remove and discard the vanilla bean. Put the heatproof bowl in the ice bath. Stir occasionally until the mixture is chilled and no longer warm. Set in the fridge until very cold, at least 1 hour.
• Freeze the mixture to an ice-cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a freezer-proof container and cover.
• Freeze before serving, 1 to 2 hours. It's best to serve the gelato the same day it's made.
• For the compote: Combine the cherries, 1/2 cup water and the sugar in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Stir to allow the sugar to melt. Cook the compote until the ingredients combine and the cherries just begin to break up, 7 to 10 minutes. (Depending on the ripeness of your cherries you may want to cook them longer.) Remove the pan from the heat and add the rum. Ignite the compote safely with a long-handled lighter and return to the stovetop to flambe and cook off the alcohol.
• Serve the gelato with the warm compote.

GRILLED SPONGE CAKE WITH PEACH AND CHERRY COMPOTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla, whisking until smooth and frothy. Add the lemon zest and juice and whisk until well combined. In a separate larger mixing bowl, sift the cake flour and salt together; a fine-mesh sieve works well for this. Gingerly and gradually fold the egg yolk mixture into the sifted flour.
• In another mixing bowl, beat egg whites on high speed with a hand mixer until just frothy. Continue beating while gradually adding the sugar. Beat on high until soft peaks form. Gently fold beaten egg whites into batter, making sure not to deflate the air bubbles in the whites. Pour batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan and bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes. Cool, upside down, in pan.
• Preheat the grill and make sure it is very clean. Cut the cooled cake into 8 slices, and then grill on both sides until nicely toasted on outside but still soft and moist on the inside, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side, depending on how hot your grill is. Serve cake slices with cooled fruit compote and whipped cream, if desired.
• In a medium, heavy-bottomed, non-reactive saucepan, combine frozen fruit, sugar, water, and orange zest and juice in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 25 to 30 minutes or until thick. Let cool and then refrigerate until ready to use.

WAFFLES WITH PEAR-CHERRY COMPOTE

Steps:

• Make the creamy topping: Combine the cottage cheese, sugar, milk and vanilla in a food processor and puree until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Make the compote: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the pears and cook until the edges brown, about 2 minutes. Add the dried cherries, orange juice, sugar and 1/3 cup water. Bring to a simmer and cook until syrupy, about 5 minutes; set aside.
• Make the waffles: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Whisk the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the milk, cottage cheese, eggs, vanilla and orange zest in another bowl (it will be lumpy), then whisk into the flour mixture until just combined. Whisk in the melted butter.
• Preheat a waffle iron and spray with cooking spray. Ladle in some batter (about 1/2 cup, depending on your waffle iron) and cook until crisp. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven; repeat with the remaining batter. Top the waffles with the creamy topping and compote.

SCHMIDT'S CHERRY CHEESE TART FILLING

Steps:

• Using a small mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in the sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla extract until smooth. Refrigerate filling overnight. Using a 4-ounce ice cream scoop, fill each pre-baked tart shell with the chilled cream cheese filling. Place cherry pie filling on top, approximately 5 cherries per tart.

CHERRY COMPOTE

Steps:

• Combine cherries, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat slightly and simmer until mixture becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in lemon juice. Let cool to room temperature before serving, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Store in the refrigerator.