Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events and Recipes
This weekend, it’s all about cherries with National Cherry Popsicle Day today and National Cherry Turnovers Day on Sunday! Bonus - Saturday is National Just Because Day, so surprise your nearest and dearest with some sweet treats using our recipe guide.
Cherry Popsicles with Greek Yogurt and Honey Swirl (courtesy of keytomylime.com)
Ingredients
1 cup cherries (fresh, halved, and pitted, 175 grams - about 1 1/2 cups frozen)
2 cups full-fat vanilla Greek yogurt (580 grams)
3 Tablespoons honey (62 grams)
Directions
Blend cherries until mostly pureed. A few medium chunks are OK.
In a medium mixing bowl, add the Greek yogurt and honey. Mix until combined.
Pour the cherry puree into the yogurt mixture and gently fold until just barely combined enough. It’s very easy to stir too much and fully mix the puree into the yogurt, which won’t give you the swirly texture in the photos.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop the mixture evenly into 10 popsicle molds. 1/4 cup won’t be quite enough to fill it, but 1/3 cup is too much. Once you’ve added the 1/4 cup to each mold, go back and spoon the remaining mixture into the molds to fill the empty space.
Freeze for one hour, then insert the popsicle sticks. Push the popsicle sticks far enough down that you’ll be able to pull the popsicles out later, but not so far that you don’t have enough of a handle to enjoy your popsicle.
Freeze for a minimum of 3 additional hours, or until the popsicles are frozen through.
Run the mold until warm water to loosen the popsicles from the mold and gently wiggle each popsicle out of the mold.
Serve immediately, or place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and freeze again to refreeze the edges. Store them in an airtight freezer friendly container or bag.
Cherry Turnovers (courtesy of thecozyapron.com)
Ingredients
1 pound fresh, dark cherries, stems removed and pitted (about 2 ½ cups pitted cherries)
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup water
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons (level) cornstarch, plus ¼ teaspoon
½ teaspoon pure almond extract
1 (17.3 ounce) package puff pastry (2 sheets), frozen
1 egg, whisked for egg wash
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Glaze Ingredients:
¾ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
Directions
Begin by gathering and prepping all of the turnover ingredients except for the puff pastry sheets—keep those frozen—according to the ingredient list above to have ready and organized for use.
Prepare your cherry filling: place the pitted cherries into a small pot along with the lemon juice and water. In a small dish, mix together the sugar and the cornstarch, and add this mixture into the cherries in the pot and stir to combine.
Turn the heat on medium-high under the cherries and bring the mixture to a boil. Then, reduce the heat and simmer the filling for about 8 minutes, until the filling thickens and becomes very glossy, red, and shiny. Remove the filling from the heat, stir in the almond extract, then spoon the filling into a clean bowl to completely cool. (You can place the filling into the fridge to expedite the cooling process.)
While the cherry filling cools, remove the puff pastry sheets from the freezer, and thaw at room temperature according to package instructions. (If your puff pastry is thawed before the filling is completely cooled, then place the sheets into the fridge to keep cold.)
Once the filling has cooled, place one of the puff pasty sheets on a lightly floured work surface in front of you. Using a rolling pin, roll out the puff pastry sheet into a square that is 10” x 10”, then cut this square into 4 equal size squares that are 5” each.
Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the cherry filling to the center of each square, then brush the edge with egg wash, and carefully fold one half of the puff pasty square over the filling to create a triangle shape. Press the seam with your fingers to seal, then using a fork, crimp the edges to further seal.
Place the 4 filled and sealed turnovers onto a large, parchment-lined baking sheet, and repeat the process with the other puff pasty sheet to create 4 more turnovers, making a total of 8 cherry turnovers.
Next, using a paring knife, gently cut two slits into the top of each turnover to create vents, then place the turnovers, with their baking sheet, into the freezer to chill for 15-20 minutes. (Do not skip this step, as the puff pastry dough will be too soft/warm at this point, and will spread rather than puff while baking.)
While the turnovers chill, preheat your oven to 400°.
Once chilled, brush a bit of the egg wash over each cherry turnover, and sprinkle over top of each a small amount of the turbinado sugar, if using.
Bake the turnovers for 22-24 minutes, or until a deep golden brown. Once baked, place the turnovers onto a wire rack to completely cool.
While the turnovers cool, gather and prep your glaze ingredients according to the ingredient list above to have ready and organized for use.
In a small bowl, whisk all glaze ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Once the turnovers are cooled to room temp, drizzle a small amount of the glaze over each turnover, allow it to set up for a few minutes, then enjoy your cherry turnovers..
Cherry Lemonade Popsicles (courtesy of theviewfromgreatisland.com)
Ingredients
1 pound fresh pitted cherries (you can also use frozen thawed cherries)
2 Tbsp sugar
juice of 1 lemon
Directions
Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the machine as necessary.
This next step is optional, but I did it — push the puree through a mesh sieve. Press firmly with the back of a spoon so you get as much as possible through.
Fill the popsicle molds almost to the top. The puree will be thick enough that you can stand the sticks right in, without using the top to hold them.
Freeze the popsicles until solid. To remove from the mold, immerse the mold up to, but not over, the top lip for just a few seconds in a sink full of hot water.
To store the popsicles wrap well in plastic.
Enjoy!