Black Forest Shake

Recipe by Robin

“Shelter in Place” is better with chocolate, don’t you agree? Before the pandemic, when I was working, I’d perfected some smoothies for my 15 minute lunch break, notably Chocolate and Fruit Smoothies and Green and Pink Drinks. I really don't miss those hurried (lack of) Power Lunches. Given the gift of more time to create and to enjoy meals and snacks, my mind veered from the healthy to the decadent, from the basic to the beautiful. It wandered from an efficient chocolaty beverage to luscious chocolate cake with whipped cream and sweet cherries. While the the Black Forest Shake is high in protein, it sports an unabashedly rich whipped cream and shaved chocolate topping. Just because you can’t build a Black Forest Cake/Shake without ‘em.

Cherries Jubilee

Recipe by Robin

There are many fun facets to making Cherries Jubilee. It sounds and looks fancy, but doesn’t take more than 30 minutes. You get to start a fire and impress your friends with your flambé skills. The recipe is historical, supposedly created by August Escoffier for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee (1887), in honor of the queen’s well known love of cherries. And it’s served over ice cream, always a plus. But my favorite thing about cherries jubilee is that, unlike other cherry desserts, the cherries don’t need to be pitted. Liberation from a thankless and staining task!

Cherry Cobbler

Cherry Cobbler: Fabulous With or Wthout Cream

Recipe adapted from Crumbles and Cobblers

Throughout this short cherry season, I’ve failed twice at making a simple cherry dessert. My potluck chocolate cherry clafouti landed upside-down on the bedroom rug (don’t ask). And the flavor wasn’t chocolatey enough to try again. Next, Fresh Cherry Cobbler, a top recipe from the usually brilliant All Recipes website, tasted more like butter and sugar than cherries. So, back to my favorite cobbler resource, Crumbles and Cobblers, to adapt a Berry Cobbler recipe. Light pastry tops a just-sweet-enough base of cherries, and leftovers were solid enough to go car camping.

Brandied Cherries

A Lot of Cocktail and Dessert Potential

Recipe by Robin

When I posted a recipe for Cherries in Light Honey Sauce recently, my friend Lynn, a prolific inventor of party drinks, mentioned that these could be used in a new drink she’s concocted. When we chatted more about her ingredient list, it turned out to be ideal to “brandy” the cherries. Always on the alert for new recipes, I thought, why not brandy some fresh cherries instead of adding brandy to the preserved honeyed ones?

Cherries in Light Honey Sauce

The Finished Product, Ready to Store or Share

Recipe by Happy Girl Kitchen and Robin

My most popular post ever, referenced in the Huffington Post’s 12 Unusual Uses for Honey, is about Berries in Light Honey Sauce, adapted from a recipe from Happy Girl Kitchen. This year, since cherry season is so short, I decided to try a similar recipe to preserve some whole cherries.