SHF#10: Oh Honey! Honey-glazed Cherries in a Martini Glass

I really don't have to say it, do I? I mean you KNOW, that Sugar High Friday is here again! And this time, Nic of Baking Sheet has us all going "Oh Honey!" creating the dessert of our dreams centering around the theme of - well, honey of course!

I don't know if I've told you, but summer's also here ;-) We've got a bounty of fresh berries at the market at the moment, so when I saw the dark red beauties that is cherries, I went straight for them, thinking yes, oh honey yes! I actually usually just eat them as is (unless I turn them into muffins) but - you know I've been trifli'ing around lately, so when I spotted a recipe for a cherry trifle in one of my cookbooks, there was no turning back. I therefore present to you: Honey-glazed cherries with homemade macaroons and sweet vanilla cream.

This portion should make enough for 4-6 individual servings.

For the honey-glazed cherries:

200 g. cherries, pitted and halved
2 tbsp. honey of your choice - not something that's too strongly scented if you ask me...

Warm up the honey in a small pan. Carefully glaze the cherries in it. Leave to cool slightly.


For the macaroons:

Makes about 12 medium sized ones:

55 g. almonds, blanched and finely chopped (or you could use almond flour, in which case I'd say about 50 g.)
2 egg whites
15 g. sugar
80 g. icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Whip the egg whites together with the sugar until peaks form (see Nic's instructions if you have any doubts about whipping egg whites) Carefully fold in the icing sugar and almonds. Using a spoon, make about 12 dollops of the mixture on a lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10-12 minutes at which point they should've turned a golden brown. Leave to cool completely.

For the vanilla cream:

2 egg yolks
2 tbsp. sugar
½ vanilla pod
250 ml whipping cream.

Whip the egg yolks with the sugar and the seeds of the vanilla pod until almost white. In a second bowl, whip the cream lightly, until soft peaks form. Fold the cream in with the egg yolk mixture.

Find the glas you'd like to use - I like wine glasses or martini glasses because you can really see the layers.



Begin with a layer of cherries, then crumble a macaroon or two on top. A spoonful of cream, maybe two or three, then a couple of cherries and some more macaroons. I like! The honey lends a subtle perfume to the juicy cherries, a bit of earthiness or herbalness, if one might say so. I was thinking one might be able to substitute some of the sugar in the macaroons with honey, but I honestly was happy I didn't fiddle with it - the taste of honey is there already, and delightfully so.

Thank you for hosting Nic! Can't wait to see what everybody's been up to in my favorite on-line event...