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Pucker Up 2014: Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

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The first of my “Pucker Up” Series for 2014 with a DYNAMITE Giveaway!

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

Mmmm. If you haven’t noticed by now, I am a French Tart fiend. They make such a gorgeous presentation, don’t you think?

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

And sour cherries with almond? A match made in heaven. Wish the almonds grew in my back yard like these gorgeous cherries do.

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

The power and versatility of this fruit never ceases to amaze. Great in sweet and savory recipes, fresh, frozen and preserved. Just look at those babies. Can you hear them calling your name?And there are “good-for-you” phytonutrients inside. What? Phytonutrients aren’t essential for keeping you alive, unlike the vitamins and minerals that plant foods contain, but when you eat or drink phytonutrients, they aassist in keeping your body working properly. Can’t beat that. And that’s certainly the case with our own Alberta Evans Cherry.  It is now being touted as another superfruit. Believe it. It contains (another big word) anthocyanins, a flavonoid that contributes to their bright red color and distinguishing taste that may possess preventative and therapeutic roles in a number of human diseases. Enough technical jargon. They are delicious and good for you as they pack one powerful punch of flavor!

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

My cherries are usually ready mid-August, though other varieties are ripe mid to late July.  Time for the cherry recipe repository! The season is never long enough for me to experiment, so I preserve and freeze them to enjoy all winter long. But, fresh? Ah! One must revel in the fresh, juicy bedazzeling jewels from Mother Nature’s repertoire.

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

Nothing like a fancy little moment on the old farm bench.

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

With a little tart.

With that in mind…. did you know that tart or sour is trending?

  • Expert trend trackers say “sour is the new spicy”
  • Consumer taste preferences are moving away from sweet (which obviously contributes to a new-found desire for tartness)
  • The Evans and  Montmorency tart cherries are similar in taste and value as both have a unique sour-sweet taste that satisfies the growing preference for sour and tart flavors

Lucky me. Trendy tree in my back yard. Better buy a dress to match!

French Pastry Photo Essay

7 French Tart Pastry 8 French Tart Pastry9 French Tart Pastry10 French Tart Pastry 11 French Tart Pastry12 French Tart Pastry 13 French Tart Pastry14 French Tart Pastry15 French Tart Pastry16 French Tart Pastry17 French Tart Pastry

Now you have your shells blind baked and ready to fill!

Marzipan Filling and Cherry Gelée Tutorial

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

If you make your own marzipan like I do, roll it out to about 1/3 inch high; choose a cutter that is just a little smaller than the inside of your tart shell, and cut out discs of marzipan filling to place inside of each shell. If you buy it, simply slice off a thick disc per shell, as it usually comes in a roll, and flatten to fit into each tart.

Sour Cherry Tarts with MarzipanSour Cherry Tarts with MarzipanSour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

The space around the edge of the filling leaves room for the sour cherry gelée to cuddle in.

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

When pitting my cherries, I save the best looking ones for these kinds of recipes. Bet you didn’t think there was such a thing as a good looking cherry, eh? Tuck them in around the edges on top of the filling and then tuck the ones in the middle into their space. Ensure, where possible, that you hide the holes. I left one showing, above left, so you can see how important it is that these are tucked in “properly”.

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

All done. Now they  little glossy globules need to be glazed and the space around the cherries needs to be filled in with more pucker power.

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan25 Sour Cherry Gelee26 Sour Cherry Gelee27 Sour Cherry Gelee

Above, left to right: gelatin sheets, gelatin sheets in water, straining sheets from water, homemade sour cherry juice that was warmed and has the softened gelatin sheets dissolved into it.

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

Gently ladle the liquid over each cherry in the tart. If your tart shell is brimming and it is difficult to cover your cherries which will likely be the case, refrigerate for 30 minutes and bring out and finish. As the liquid will be partially set, the second ladle will sit on top of the tart and with the cherries cold, adhere to them, as well.

Sour Cherry Tarts with MarzipanSour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

Ta-da! Let’s get this party started! The lace cloth, above, was hand crocheted with the finest of white thread by Pava. I found so many of these gorgeous cloths in her storage that I had to bring some home. Vanja finds them old fashioned and only something one would find in an old lady’s house. Hello?

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan33 Sour Cherry Tart with Marzipan

Party for one, and I am OK with that. There is a life time of memories stitched into this beautiful cloth. There is a season of goodness bursting from these gorgeous sour cherries and there is my labour of love. This recipe that I have created to add to my Sour Cherry Recipes. Shhhh! I need a moment to savor the sweet buttery crust as it provides a foil to the lush cherries with a toothsome crunch that melts on the tongue, followed by a bright “hello” from the ooey-gooey marzipan cushioning and absorbing the succulent puckery juice from these blissful cherries.

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

Yup. I did it. This is a mighty fine sweet and puckery mid afternoon treat… grand finale, or bedtime pleasure. Call it what you will and eat it when you like, you will enjoy this little ditty.

Sour Cherry Tarts with MarzipanSour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

I promise. Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

You know the rules. You have to bake and tell, right? No cheating. If you make this recipe, please let me know how it turned out for you. If you buy the marzipan, the cherries, and the juice, it is super easy to put together. And, Duchess Bakeshop in Edmonton may even sell you some of their blind baked French Tart shells, if you ask.

Delicious, Nutritious and Economical is my mantra. This recipe meets that criteria, and is on trend (as we have just learned) and purdy to look at, to boot!

So, get cooking! If you do – or if you don’t there is a contest you can win for participating in the conversation on this and two more recipes I will post in the next two weeks. Details to follow the recipe, below. The prizes rock!

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan
4.94 from 15 votes
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Sour Cherry Tart



These Marzipan Sour Cherry Tarts are a French Tart using the small individual rings with marzipan filling, fresh cherries glazed with sour cherry gelee.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Canadian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 8
Author Valerie Lugonja

Ingredients

Ingredients for cookie crust pastry:

  • 175 grams butter
  • 100 grams berry sugar
  • 25 grams egg
  • lemon zest from 1/2 a lemon
  • 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 250 grams flour

Ingredients for Marzipan Filling:

  • find the recipe here , or buy it

Ingredients for the Gelee:

  • 1 cup tart or sour cherry juice (recipe here)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 gelatin leaves (one is supposed to be enough for one cup liquid, but it is not)

Putting it Together:

  • 88 fresh pitted blemishless sour cherries: 11 per one small 4 inch tart ring size
  • Fresh mint for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Instructions for pastry

  1. Cream butter and sugar until sugar dissolves and mixture is voluminous
  2. Add lemon zest and vanilla to egg; add half egg mixture very slowly to butter mixture on low speed
  3. Add remaining egg mixture to butter mixture very slowly on low speed
  4. Sift flour; add to butter-egg mixture slowly, until pastry comes together in a ball: do not over mix
  5. Divide dough into 2; wrap each well in plastic wrap
  6. Rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until the next day
  7. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees
  8. Take pastry dough out of refrigerator; if overnight, warm to pliable, but still very cool before rolling
  9. Roll dough to 1/6 inch thick on pastry sheet or between two pieces of parchment paper; keep lightly floured to avoid sticking
  10. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet; place pastry rings on top of paper for baking after covering with pastry
  11. Place one ring over pastry; cut a circle around it much wider than its circumference to accommodate for sides of tart with overhang (cut eight circles)
  12. Using plastic wrap on top of pastry, turn rolled pastry disc over (plastic wrap on top) and gently place over pastry ring (plastic wrap still on top) with sides folded slightly to insert somewhat vertically
  13. With plastic wrap adhered to pastry, gently rest middle of pastry into pastry ring on parchment paper; relax pastry from center of ring toward outside edges to enable pastry room to curve into the right angled edge around inner circumference of ring without tearing (however, should pastry tear, simply press together with fingers)
  14. Once sides and bottom of tart are evenly distributed with pastry and excess pastry hung over rim, roll rolling pin over top of tart ring to cut off extra pastry, leaving a smooth and aesthetically pleasing edge
  15. Cut 8 ample squares of plastic wrap; place each in center of ring over pastry dough
  16. Fill with rice to top edge of ring; fold excess wrap over rice to secure (it will melt into "a package" when baked)
  17. Bake in middle rack of oven for 13-15 minutes, until sides are light golden
  18. Remove from oven; remove each sac of rice from each tart ring (be careful, they will be hot; save for reuse)
  19. Dock bottom of each shell with fork; bake for 10-12 more minutes until light golden brown
  20. Cool on rack; remove rings

Instructions for gelee:

  1. Soften gelatin sheets in 1/2 cup room temperature or slightly cool water for 2-3 minutes (until sheets transform into a soft mass)
  2. Gently heat 1 cup fresh sour cherry juice to warm; ring water out of gelatin mass, or strain with a sieve
  3. Add gelatin to warm juice; stir until completely dissolved: about 1 minute
  4. Cool to room temperature

Assembling the Tart:

  1. Roll marzipan on slightly powdered surface (use icing sugar) to 1/3 inch depth; using a circular cookie cutter a little smaller than diameter of inside of tart shell, cut one disc of marzipan for each tart
  2. Place each disc in centre of each shell; decoratively arrange 11 fresh pitted cherries on thick cushion of marzipan
  3. Gently spoon a portion of sour cherry gelee, still in liquid form at room temperature, over each cherry in each tart
  4. Set tarts in refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool; gently spoon remaining portion of sour cherry gelee over cold cherries to glaze each one
  5. Refrigerate until service; garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and a big smile

Recipe Notes

The pastry will take about an hour to make from start to finish.
The gelee can be made while the pastry is cooling.

If making your own marzipan, do it a day in advance and have it ready to go.
Cherries are best picked, pitted and placed on these tarts the same day
After the tarts have been glazed, they will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

Follow Valerie’s board Sour Cherry Season and Recipes on Pinterest.

The Grand Prize Tart Cherry Giveaway from The Cherry Marketing Institute

representing Canada’s tart cherry growers and processors!

The giveaway includes the following:

Tart Cherries - Taste Giveaway

 The Deets for the Cherry Marketing Institute Giveaway August 28 to September 15, 2014.

Winner will be announced September 15, 2014 at midnight. Contest closes at 6 pm that same day.

The Deets:

  • arrangements will be made for the prize package to be mailed to your door
  • contest will close at 6 pm September 15, 2014
  • the winner will be announced via September 16, 2014, and I will attach the name to the bottom of this post with congratulations immediately upon selecting the winner.
  • all names will go in a hat (this is the way we do it at our house) and my husband will draw the winner; each name will go in for each entry as outlined below
  • yes, you can enter your name more than once (read below)

To enter the contest, you must do #1 or #2; the other ideas are opportunities for extra entries:

  1. Write a comment about your personal experience with sour cherries on this post, or either of the other two sour cherry recipes that I am developing for the Cherry Marketing Institute (favourite recipes, include the link; favourite products, etc.)
  2. OR write a comment about a great recipe you found over at Choose Cherries with the link, instead. (Check it out; there are some incredibly inspiring recipes there.)
  3. Follow me on Twitter: has to be a new follow to count, sorry
  4. Follow Tart Cherries on Twitter @choosecherries, also has to be a new entry to count
  5. Tweet the contest and include @acanadianfoodie and @choosecherries in the tweet so I can count it as an entry in the draw; you can tweet daily (each tweet counts as an entry into the draw): sample tweet (you can use) here:    Great prize from  over at  Pucker Power Series 2014! DON’T miss out!  
  6. Like my Facebook page: (and I am talking the page, not this post) has to be a new “like” to count, sorry
  7. Like the Tart Cherry Facebook page: has to be new to count
  8. BONUS: You can get THREE entries if you share the link to this post and this contest on your own personal Facebook page and include “Valerie McKinney Rodgers Lugonja” in that post with the link

NOTE: please make sure you leave an e-mail with your comment below so that I can reach you to let you know if you are the winner, otherwise, you will not win!

That’s an opportunity for A LOT of entries. I hope you take advantage of this opportunity as I KNOW this prize is definitely worth it.

Disclaimer: Have you figured out that this is a sponsored post, yet? It is. Thanks to the Cherry Marketing Institute for the opportunity to develop these recipes and introduce my readers to my Pucker Up 2014 Series.

Sour Cherry Tarts with Marzipan

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About Valerie Lugonja

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Educator, Writer, Gardener and Traveler who believes in buying and eating locally, and most importantly cooking at home! As a brand new Gramsy, so be prepared to hear a lot about this new role in her life!
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Comments

  1. Lesli CK says

    5 stars
    I love that this post is about sour cherries! I’ve always had Nanking Cherries in my garden, and my mom does, and my grandma did…it was always a necessary component of a complete garden in my family. These cherries are convenient and easy for everyone to ‘snack’ on and require little special attention, even in the coldest Canadian winter. Nanking Cherry Jelly is a lovely mid-winter treat in our household!

    Reply

    • Valerie Lugonja says

      HI, Lesli!
      A dear friend has Nanking cherries and invited us over to pick. The snacking it key. Excellent for that. I found, though the bushes were filled with these cherries, that they took a very long time to pick. Maybe just me? But the flavour is lovely in jelly, isn’t it? I have a post on that, too!
      🙂
      Valerie

      Reply

    • Valerie Lugonja says

      Laureen,
      Wonderful – it is yummy, if I do say so myself, and rather a light tart due to the fresh cherries – but I am doing a version with frozen and it can also be made with preserved cherries, too – of course. Cannot get enough of these lovlies!
      🙂
      V

      Reply

  12. Cheryl Huffman says

    5 stars
    Thanks for this recepe, it’s a must try. I’ve got a cherry tree and I pick and eat them fresh right off the tree. I also have many friends that I share them with. Looking forward to seeing other recipes for great ideas.

    Reply

    • Valerie Lugonja says

      Where do you live, Cheryl? Is it a sour cherry tree? I cannot eat mine fresh off the tree. Too much pucker power for moi!
      🙂
      V

      Reply

    • Valerie Lugonja says

      What kind of cherries, Cheryl? Where do you live? Are they sour cherries? I could never eat mine from the tree – too much pucker power for moi!
      🙂
      V

      Reply

  13. Lesley says

    My young Evans cherry tree produced about 3 cups of cherries this year. Luckily, S’s mom sent us a big box of cherries harvested from her tree.
    So far I have already made two batches of sour cherry almond frozen yogurt and canned couple jars of vanilla bourbon cherries. Sour cherry preserves and perhaps some pies next.

    Reply

  16. mongupp says

    4 stars
    Wow. I wish I had a sour cherry tree in my vicinity! I am bonkers for cherries, especially in black forest cake.

    Reply

  19. Amy L says

    We have a very small, young cherry tree in our back yard. Last year was the first time it yielded enough for me to bake a pie. I used a very simple recipe and it was the Best tasting pie I’ve ever baked. This year we didn’t get many cherries (perhaps because of the harsh winter), and I was so disappointed! The birds ate what little there were. I hear we may have another harsh winter this year 🙁

    Reply

  22. Lillian says

    My first time working with Evan’s cherries was with Addie about 2 years ago when he picked buckets of cherries while volunteering. So, of course, we set about to make our first Evan’s Cherry pie with a splash of Disaronno to increase the flavour intensity. We used the same tart base as the one I had tried from my tart making 101 post http://www.beyondumami.com/2012/08/tart-making-101.html and the results were amazing! Speaking of which, I really should blog it so there is actual evidence that we did do this..albeit 2 years ago!

    Reply

  25. Sarah Galvin (All Our Fingers in the Pie) says

    This looks absolutely delicious! I made sour cherry hand pies for the market this summer and people couldn’t get enough of them. I have also made sour cherry jam. It is amazing how rich the colour becomes in the jam making. Now a question, do you really wrap the rice in plastic wrap and bake it that way? The wrap doesn’t melt?

    Reply

    • Valerie Lugonja says

      Thank you, Cassandra
      It is harder to get them in BC – interestingly, the orchard areas in the Okanagan are to warm to grow sour cherry trees!
      🙂
      V

      Reply

  32. Jane S says

    I found your website late on Tuesday night and got so excited about the preserved Evans cherries that I leaped out of bed and raced back to the kitchen. I had thawed too many cherries on Monday for the batch of jam I’d made so had Evans cherries in the fridge waiting for a brilliant idea. I now have 6 cups of them soaking in vinegar – can hardly wait to try the finished product! I made a batch of Evans cherry jelly tonite – 8 gorgeous jars are twinkling on my kitchen counter cooling off right now. Soooo good!

    Reply

    • Valerie Lugonja says

      I cannot wait to hear how your preserved cherries turn out. I have a batch just going into the sugar now. 🙂
      V

      Reply

    • Valerie Lugonja says

      Yeah, Carol!
      Thank you – I hope you consider signing up for my weekly Saturday morning newsletters – my posts from the week come in one email every Saturday morning – with one photo, each. Fun to enjoy with your coffee…. if you get up early enough.
      🙂
      Good luck!
      Valerie

      Reply

  38. Jane S says

    Evans cherry jam, cherry jelly, and preserved cherries in my kitchen this week. And I do think drinking half a cup of plain juice helps me sleep better. Any idea where I can get a year’s supply of unprocessed ( plain, frozen) juice?

    Reply

  42. jenny says

    Wow the pictures made me drool.

    I am very tempted by the double chocolate cherry cookies….anything chocolate is good in my book

    Reply

  45. Dreena says

    5 stars
    First, how lovely the tarts look! We have a three year old Sour Cherry Tree in our front yard. I think it is an Evans. It’s growing quite well, however, I only got a handful of sour cherries to enjoy this year. I passed my son a cherry and told him to enjoy our crop!! Maybe next year.

    Cheers.

    Reply

  54. Karine says

    5 stars
    Wow that looks sooo good! The only time I ever had those type of sour cherries I was young but I remember it was good! It would be fun to try this

    Reply

    • Valerie Lugonja says

      Karine,
      I believe you have had sour cherries many times without even knowing it. They are the cherry that create the traditional cherry flavour. They are the cherry in the canned pie filling.
      🙂
      V

      Reply

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