Tasty Monthly Cherry Recipes
Every month we will showcase new seasonal recipes featuring Wisconsin cherries. You can also view an archive of our past recipes.
December 2009
This month's recipes include Cherry Cheese in Cupcake Papers, Sensational Stuffed Mushrooms, Pork Balls in Sweet & Sour Sauce and Cherry Gingerbread Upside-Down Cake.
Cherry Cheese in Cupcake Papers
Makes 24-30 cupcakes
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 - 21 oz. can cherry pie filling
1 box vanilla wafers
cupcake papers
Instructions:
Put one vanilla wafer in each cupcake paper.
In a small bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Fill each cupcake about 2/3 full of cream cheese mixture. bake at 350 degrees until set, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Cool. Add cherry pie filling and serve.
Sensational Stuffed Mushrooms
Hot out of the oven, mushrooms are an elegant appetizer.
Makes 30
30 large mushrooms (about 1 lb.)
1/3 lb. bulk pork sausage
1 cup chopped dried tart cherries
2 green onions, sliced
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
Instructions:
Pull stems from mushrooms and discard (or save for another use). Rinse mushroom caps; drain well. Set aside.
In a large skillet, cook sausage, stirring to break up meat, 5 minutes, or until sausage is done. Remove from heat. Add dried cherries, onions and cream cheese; mix well. Fill each mushroom cap with a heaping teaspoonful of sausage mixture. Place filled mushrooms on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven 6 to 8 minutes.
Serve immediately.
Pork Balls in Sweet & Sour Sauce
Makes 6 servings
1 lb. pork, ground up
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup pineapple juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lite soy sauce
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
3/4 cup pineapple chunks
3/4 cup frozen sweetened red tart cherries, thawed & drained
1 green pepper, sliced in strips
Instructions:
Form pork into 1 inch balls. Fry balls, onion and garlic in small amount of oil in skillet. Drain and remove from skillet.
Put pineapple juice, cornstarch, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, sugar and water in skillet. Cook and stir until mixture is clear and thickened.
Add pineapple, cherries, peppers and meatballs and simmer.
Cherry Gingerbread Upside-Down Cake
A wonderful carmel and cherry treat!
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup frozen or fresh red tart cherries pitted or 1/2 cup dried cherries
1 - 14 oz. package gingerbread mix
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In microwave-safe 8 inch baking pan, melt butter in microwave. Quickly stir in brown sugar and stir until butter and brown sugar are well-mixed. Spread the mixture evenly across bottom of baking pan. Arrange cherries evenly into butter mixture.
Prepare gingerbread mix according to package directions. Pour batter over cherries and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until done. Cool for 5 minutes; then turn cake upside down onto serving platter. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
