Roasted Cherry (or Berry) Dutch Baby with Caramel Sauce

After doing seven hours of cardio in the past five days plus snowboarding and tubing for several hours yesterday, I woke up this morning needing something sugary and full of carbs and calories. Luckily for me, TheKitchn.com had posted a recipe for Dutch Babies (or Pannekoene if you actually want to be fancy and call it by it's Dutch name) with cherries and caramel sauce earlier this week. Because I didn't have any frozen cherries, I used about a cup of frozen blueberries and it worked wonderfully! This recipe isn't quick --it took almost an hour from start to finish-- it's definitely worth the effort! I also don't have a cast iron pan big enough, so I just used an oven safe skillet. Some people commented on the original post that enamel cast iron pots work, too.

PS According to the recipe, it serves 8. I have already eaten half and I'm contemplating more. Keep that in mind if you are trying to serve several people.

I love TheKitchn not only for its recipes, but because their food is always so perfectly photographed!

Roasted Cherry Dutch Baby with Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Sauce
Serves 8

For the Dutch Baby:
1 cup (5 oz) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (2 oz) white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (6 oz) whole or 2% milk
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 12- or 16-oz bag frozen sweet cherries
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons (1 oz) unsalted butter

For the Sauce:
2 tablespoons (1 oz) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt

Heat the oven to 425°F.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor or blender and pulse several times to combine. Add the milk, eggs, and vanilla and blend continuously for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides, and blend continuously for another 10 seconds or until there are no more lumps and the batter is frothy. Let the batter stand in the blender for 15-20 minutes to give the flour time to absorb the liquids.

Meanwhile, toss the cherries with the brown sugar. Scatter them in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or other oven-safe dish of similar size. Roast for 18-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cherries look wrinkled and their juices have turned syrupy.

Add the butter to the cherries and return the skillet to the oven for 2-3 minutes to melt the butter. Stir the melted butter into the cherries. Whiz the pancake batter to froth it up again and pour it immediately over the cherries. Don't stir.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. When finished, the edges of the pancake should be domed and turn deep brown while the middle should look puffed and golden. The dark cherry juices will make the edges look nearly burnt, but continue cooking until the middle looks done.

While the pancake is baking, prepare the sauce. Combine the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the butter has melted, and let the butter and sugar come to a boil. Off the heat, whisk in the cream, cinnamon, and salt. Return to heat and let the sauce come back to a boil. Immediately remove the pan from heat and set the sauce aside.

Serve the dutch baby as soon as it has finished baking. Drizzle some sauce over the entire pancake and then divide it into eight wedges. Serve with extra sauce on the side.

Miniature Cherry Cheesecakes ~ by Sarah

Wes doesn't like sweets (ridiculous, I know), but he does have a weakness for cherry cheesecake.  Since today is Valentine's Day, I'm cooking him a meat and potatoes meal (literally), but I wanted some sort of yummy dessert for him.  I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen.  This is a website run by Pioneer Woman with recipes submitted by subscribers.  Audrey and I "tested" one after we made them today and they're delicious!  And so cute!

Ingredients:
FOR THE CRUST:
1 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs (It takes about one whole package of crushed crackers to get this amount.  I put the crackers in a Ziploc bag, then rolled over them with a rolling pin to crush them.)
3 T. sugar
1/3 c. butter, melted

FOR THE CHEESECAKE:
16 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 can (about 20 oz.) cherry topping (or any other fruit filling of your choice)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 1 1/2 muffin tins (18 spaces) with cupcake liners.  Mix graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter.  Press a spoonful into each cupcake liner and press firmly to the bottom.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until thick and creamy.  Spoon mixture onto graham cracker crust, filling about 3/4 full.  Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean.  The tops will round out and crack and that's when you know they're done.  (Note: It took mine another 10 minutes or so to cook after my 15-minute buzzer went off!)

Let them cool, then add cherry filling to the top.  These are best when served cold.