Sacramento Digs Gardening: This flexible fruit dessert ends summer on a sweet note

It’s the end of summer – and the start of fall baking season. This rustic torte celebrates both.

Cherries last for weeks off the tree, but like summer itself, they don’t last forever. My last cherries went into this dessert, giving bursts of juicy flavor.

This versatile torte can be adapted to other fruit, too, such as peaches, nectarines, plums, pluots, blackberries, blueberries or strawberries. (Chop larger fruit into chunks the size of halved cherries.) Frozen or canned cherries, defrosted and/or drained, can be substituted for fresh cherries, too.

Cherries scattered across an unbaked torte — Arrange cherries skin side up before baking.

This torte recipe itself is a variation of the New York Times’ beloved Original Plum Torte, a staple since the early 1980s. The cornmeal gives it added texture and a pleasant crunch. Almond extract complements the cherries.

Enjoy before summer fruit, like the season, is just a memory.

Cherry cornmeal torte

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

½ teaspoon almond extract

1/3 cup cornmeal

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

3 cups cherries, pitted and halved

Sugar for topping

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 10-inch round baking dish or pie plate. Set aside.

Round baked torte — The cherries may hide in the batter during baking,
but they're an integral part of this torte.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream together softened butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add extract; beat some more.

Sift together cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter-sugar mixture, beating until smooth.

Spoon batter into prepared baking dish, smoothing to cover bottom of dish.

Arrange cherries evenly over batter, skin side up. Sprinkle sugar over top.

Place baking dish on center rack of preheated oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown.

Remove torte from the oven and let cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream, if desired.

Refrigerate any leftovers.

RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipe recipes summer fruit dessert cherries backyard produce farmers markets torte baking produce management September Sacramento gardening

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

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April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

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Garden checklist for week of April 19

After this midweek storm, start getting serious about spring gardening. Flowers are blooming about three weeks ahead of schedule. That includes weeds!

* Get ready to swing into action in the vegetable garden – if you haven’t already. As nights warm up over 50 degrees, set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash; wait on pumpkins until May. Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Give citrus trees a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants. If leaves look yellow, your tree may need an iron boost -- apply some chelated iron fertilizer.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden needs nutrition. Give shrubs and trees a slow-release fertilizer. Mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost, which helps the soil, but keep it a few inches away from trunks and stems.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

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