Celebrating Summer with Cherry Turn-Overs

Fresh cherries make me exceeding happy. I was the little girl who ate cherries until she was ill. Every summer. For more summers than I care to admit. It never deterred me from cherries. Should this behavior have been a warning sign? I say no- and continue collecting recipes that showcase my sweet, pitted addiction. This weekend, fresh off a week-long summer cold that annoyed me to no end, I took back my kitchen, and baked up some cherry turn-overs.

A woman I used to work with had posted this recipe on her blog. I was inspired, and since I had a family dinner to attend on Saturday, I thought turn-overs were the perfect dessert for portioning out sweets to a large group of hungry relatives. I dusted off my own cherry turn-over recipe and got to work.

Crust:

Puff Pastry (Normally, I like to make my own, but I was still low on energy)

Filling:

About 3/4 pound fresh, washed and pitted cherries

2 Tbsp granulated white sugar
1 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt

2 Tablespoons milk for sealing

Coarse grain sugar for dusting

First, pre-heat your oven to 375°F. Then wash, and pit your cherries. Note, this could take forever if you don’t have an awesome cherry-pitter (as I do not.)

Then, in a large bowl, mix the cherries with sugar, lemon zest & juice, almond extract, cornstarch and salt and set aside until ready to fill the turnovers.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to about 1/8 inch.

Using a biscuit cutter or inverted bowl, cut out as many rounds as your dough will allow. Knead the scraps of dough together to roll out and minimize waste. Try to not to do this too many times, I find that store-bought puff-pastry doesn’t like to be “over-worked.”

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking (Silpat) mats and place dough rounds onto prepared baking sheets. Pile a couple of spoonfuls of cherries onto half of each dough round.

Brush the fruit-side edge of the turnover with milk, and carefully fold the sides together. Use a fork to seal the pouches closed. Use a sharp knife to carefully cut slits in the top of each turnover to allow steam to escape while baking. Brush the tops of the turnovers with a beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake turnovers on bottom and top third racks for 15 minutes. Then rotate the sheets and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack.