Hands like Lady Macbeth

I bought a large amount (for our family) of cherries because The Girl wanted them, but they were not being eaten quickly and I needed to find a use for them before they went bad. So I decided to try a fruit coffee cake and went to find the recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake a friend of mine posted to facebook. I did not have enough cherries for the filling so I added a can of cranberries what turned out much better than I expected and it added that tartness that the rhubarb would have in the original recipe.

The thing with cherries is that they have pits and stems which need to be removed, and cherry juice stains.

CHERRY CRANBERRY COFFEE CAKE

Filling: 1 cup sliced cherries 1/2 cup pureed cherries or berry baby food 1 can cranberry sauce 1 teaspoon cinnamon mix ingredients well. heat over medium heat until it begins to boil then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer until thickened. (alternatively add a little water and 2T of cornstarch to thicken more quickly) Cake: 1 1/2 cups of flour 3/4 cup of brown sugar (If you like cake a little less sweet, just use 1/2 a cup of sugar) 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. nutmeg and/or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 butter or shortening, softened but not melted 1 egg 1/2 cup buttermilk (or substitute 1 T lemon juice plus enough regular milk to equal 1/2 cup) 1/2 tsp. vanilla (or more to taste) Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Use a pastry blender or a fork to cut in the butter to a crumbly texture. Next, combine the egg, milk and vanilla in a separate bowl and then add to the dry ingredients. Mix gently, and only to combine the dry and liquid ingredients--the batter should still be lumpy. Grease an 8x8 in. pan or a round pan of similar diameter. Spread half of the batter in the pan, then cover with the fruit mixture. Next, spoon the remaining batter over the fruit, in mounds like you would for a cobbler. Topping: 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 T butter 1/2 cup crushed nuts (optional) Use a fork or pastry blender to cut in the butter to a crumbly texture. Mix quickly with nuts if including. Sprinkle evenly over pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden and sugar topping is mostly melted. Serve warm at nap time with coffee and a good book. (with significant credit to my friend Julie Binnie who gave significant credit to Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook)

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