Recipe of the Week: Cherry Amandines from La Tartine Gourmande

I’ve found a great whip-it-up-when-you-get-home-dessert that looks fancy, tastes delicious and is filled with ripe, luscious cherries. It’s a little like a bread pudding with a soft center, and chock-a-block with bright fruit. Perfect for weeknight or weekend company, or (as I made it) for one of those I-need-a-dessert moments.

You should have most of the ingredients in your pantry (eggs, butter, brown sugar, vanilla). You might have almonds (for some reason, we always do. Maybe it’s the granola) and the cherries. And you’ll probably have to buy the crème fraiche or mascarpone cheese (one or the other). But it will be worth it.

Because it will take you 10 minutes to assemble this, 20 minutes to cook it (then some pacing while you wait for it to cool a bit) before it takes you 5 minutes to eat it and exclaim over the deliciousness.

Cherry Amandines, hot out of the oven

Seriously.

I found this recipe over at LaTartineGourmande.com, which you should visit, if for no other reason than it is amazingly gorgeous. Visiting this site from my frigid Manhattan office gives me a short Calgon “take me away” moment.

Cooking notes: I only used about half the cherries because I was afraid they wouldn’t all fit in my ramekins. That said, I could have used more, maybe even all, the recipe called for. I also used mascarpone rather than crème fraiche because the former can be found at the grocery around the corner, and the latter requires a special trip.

Check out the recipe here, and while you’re at it, check out the latest post which includes a fresh pea spread with goat cheese, lemon, mint- need I go on (hint hint Katie who is providing the so-called pea tapenade for dinner tonight)? Wow, that looks good.

Enjoy!