Cherry Bomb
The most cherry-ish, cherry-licious dessert. Pre-make the rough puff the day (or night) before to make life easier.
This recipe makes one regular, large tart. You can cut down ingredients if you are making a smaller tart.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons of sugar
3 cups (enough for a packed single layer in your cast iron skillet) ripe cherries, stemmed & pitted
1/3 of your rough puff recipe (or store-bought is fine)
ice cream or whipped cream for serving
Method:
- Pre-heat your oven to 375F.
- Place your 10“ cast iron skillet on the stove over medium heat. Add the butter and sugar and cook until the sugar is melted, and golden brown. Remove from heat and swirl to coat evenly.
- Place your cherries into the skillet over the caramel. Cherries should fit snugly, covering the bottom of the pan in a tight, single layer.
- Remove the puff pastry from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a 15“ diameter (5“ larger than your pan).
- Place your puff pastrty over the skillet (careful, as the pan is still hot), and tuck it down into the pan, between the cherries and the edge of the pan. Make sure to tuck it really well, as it has a tendency to shrink up when cooking.
- Place the skillet onto a rimmed baking sheet and into the hot oven.
- Bake at 375F for 15 minutes, then turn down heat to 325F. Continue to cook another 20-30 minutes, until the puff pastry is puffed, cooked through and an even golden brown.
- When your puff pastry is golden brown, remove your tarte from the oven. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
- After five minutes, loosen the edges by running a butter knife around the pan. Careful, the pan is hot!
- Place your lipped or rimmed serving plate over the skillet on top of the puff pastry. Using both hands, and either a thick kitchen towl or oven mits that go high up your arms, hold onto both ends of the skillet and plate. In one quick motion, flip it over, turning it away from you (incase any caramel escapes so you don’t get burned).
- Unmold the cake by removing the hot skillet. If any cherries are stuck in the pan, simply remove them with a spoon and place back in their spots on the tarte.
- The tarte might be juicy. Don’t worry, the juice will become thicker and come together as it cools.
- Serve with ice cream or amaretto flavored whipped cream.