Desserts

CHERRY COBBLER

For cherry filling

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 6 cups fresh or frozen pitted tart cherries
  (about 3 1/2 pints fresh, picked over)
  
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico or
  Di Saronno Amaretto
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

For biscuit topping

• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Accompaniment: vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Make filling:
In a large heavy saucepan whisk together sugar
and cornstarch. Add fresh or frozen cherries,
liqueur, vanilla, and allspice and bring to a
boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally.
Simmer mixture, stirring, 2 minutes and
transfer to a shallow 2-quart baking dish.

Make topping:
Cut butter into pieces. In a bowl with a pastry
blender or in a food processor blend or pulse
together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder,
salt, and butter until mixture resembles coarse
meal. If using a food processor transfer mixture
to a bowl. Add milk and vanilla and stir until
mixture forms a dough.
Drop topping by rounded tablespoons onto cherry
filling (do not completely cover it) and bake in
middle of oven 40 minutes, or until topping is
golden and cooked through. Transfer cobbler to a
rack to cool slightly.

Serve cobbler warm with ice cream.

Makes 8 servings.

FIVE-SPICE APPLE PIE

By the time Crisco came out in 1911, apple pies
had long been an American classic. But Crisco,
the first hydrogenated vegetable shortening,
gave cooks a boost. Here was a shelf-stable
alternative to perishable butter and lard.
While a lot of consumers were skeptical of
Crisco, many early sales were generated by
Orthodox Jews, who bought the shortening after
a recipe booklet was published in Yiddish
showing how Crisco could be used without
breaking kosher dietary laws. Its success was
assured when rationing made lard scarce during
World War I.

Crust

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening,
  cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  
• 6 tablespoons (about) ice water

Filling

• 5 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled,
  cored, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder*
• 2 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

For Crust:
Mix first 3 ingredients in large bowl. Add
shortening; cut in using pastry blender or 2
knives until mixture resembles coarse meal with
a few pea-size pieces. Mix in enough ice water
by tablespoonfuls to form moist clumps. Gather
dough. Divide into 2 pieces, 1 slightly larger
than the other. Flatten each into disk. Wrap
each disk in plastic; chill at least 1 hour.
(Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.
Let dough soften slightly at room temperature
before rolling out.)
For Filling: Toss apples and lemon juice in
large bowl. Melt butter in heavy large pot over
medium heat. Add apples and brown sugar; cook
until apples are just tender, stirring
occasionally, about 15 minutes. Using slotted
spoon, return apples to same bowl. Boil juices
in pot until thick, about 15 minutes. Pour
juices over apples; cool completely. Mix in
flour and five-spice powder.
Position rack in lowest third of oven; preheat
to 375°F. Place baking sheet on rack. Roll out
larger dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch
round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish; trim
overhang to 1 inch, if necessary. Spoon filling
into crust. Roll out smaller dough disk to 10-
inch round. Drape over filling. Press top and
bottom edges of dough together; crimp
decoratively. Cut small hole in center of crust.
Brush crust with cream. Sprinkle with 1/2
teaspoon sugar.
Place pie on baking sheet in oven; bake until
crust is golden brown and filling bubbles
thickly, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Transfer pie
to rack and cool. Serve slightly warm or at
room temperature.
*Chinese five-spice powder is sold in the spice
section of most supermarkets.

Serves 6 to 8