Little Red Stove

I may sound dramatic when I say that cherry season gives me life. But cherry season gives me life.

Cherry meringue pie with brown butter crust, a.k.a. my heavenly tart, was born on one early Saturday morning in the Farmer’s Market on Long Island, NY.
I was sauntering through, minding my own business and “awwww”ing at all the puppies, when suddenly I was smitten at the fruit stand table by these tiny bright red beauties.

These cherries from Wickham’s Fruit Farm were in my shopping bag before the man behind the stand could even ask how my morning was. Their texture was reminiscent of concord grapes, and they were beautifully tart.

That being said, baking with them was my brain child, but they would absolutely lose any and all texture. A custard would be lovely…
A custard topped with fluffy torched meringue would be perfect. They were tart, lemons are tart…why not try a tart cherry meringue pie?

Let. Me. Tell. You.

This is a match made in the heavens.

Enough chatter and let’s get you started so that you too can eat this whole thing in 2 days by yourself at the kitchen table. This recipe is not exactly for a quick spur of the moment dessert, but I do promise it is quite easy. We’ll do it step-by-step.

You will need for the crust of a 9” tart pan:
1 stick salted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

You will need for the filling:
2 pints small tart cherries
1/2 cup sugar
juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups of your homemade cherry juice
5 tablespoons salted butter cut into chunks

You will need for the meringue:
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
splash of vanilla

Let’s begin by cooking the cherries for the juice.
Combine the cherries, 1/2 cup sugar, and juice of 1/2 a lemon into a nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook continuously (seeds included, not stems) for about 15 minutes or until the juices coat the back of a spoon when stirred. Set aside to cool.
Once cooled, strain through a fine mesh strainer being sure to push through every ounce of goodness.

For the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a small saucepan over low heat, add the stick of butter. Cook until the butter is lightly browned and smells nutty. Skim off some of the milk solids that float to the top. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl combine the flour and sugar. Mix in the browned butter and vanilla with a spoon until it forms a crumbly texture.
Press into a lightly greased tart pan and up the sides. Prick all over with a fork (or “dock”), and bake for about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. The crust will get virtually no more color even when it’s finished baking. Trust in your timing.

For the filling get ready another one of your nonreactive saucepans.
Whisk together your eggs, egg yolks, and sugar. Next, whisk in your cherry juice, zest, vanilla and 4 tablespoons of the butter.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. It should be almost the consistency of pudding.

Remove from heat, and whisk in the last tablespoon of butter.

Pour your cherry custard into your brown butter tart shell. Honestly you could even stop now, I wouldn’t blame you and neither would anyone else who tasted this. But let’s overachieve a bit, shall we?

Put this in the fridge to chill for 4 hours. At last let’s make this the show stopper it was born to be…

I use a Swiss meringue for my tart, because I personally love the texture.
It’s cooked already, so the finish either in the oven or with a torch is mainly for aesthetic.

In a metal mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar. Whisk continuously to avoid scrambled eggs, and heat until the sugar dissolves and is hot when you touch it to your fingertip (175 degrees is the goal).
Take it off the pan, and whisk at high speed until stiff peaks are formed. Add in the vanilla.

Slather on top of your cooled tart.
You can return this to a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes to toast the top, or you could use a torch for a quick toast with marshmallow-y insides.

I have no more words.
I truly just wish I had this tart again so I could return to the happiest midnight snacking moments of my life…