Thursday 12 May 2016

All a-Twitter about cherries!

So last night on Twitter, a friend with a much more well known austerity food blog posted a pic of  Lidl's sour cherries in syrup, and I replied how much I LOVE these, (I lived in Germany for a while and enjoyed them a lot there, so I love that I can get them (and other Germany-cravings) in Lidl in the UK.)

So then we had a bit of a food-porn convo (and yes I was more than a little fan-girl about this at the time) about what to do with them, which Lidl's Twitter account picked up and commented on and so I promised Lidl I would share with the Lidl community.
I thought it might also be nice to share these brainstorming results with my bloggiverse...

So, obvious things are -   eat them with Quark, or over good vanilla ice-cream, or drain and dip in dark chocolate and freeze. Reserve the liquid for cocktails/mocktails/drink with soda water like a cordial.

For a simple but effective tray bake, make and split a sponge cake mix in 2, and add cocoa to one half.  Spread the cocoa half roughly in a lined brownie pan - don't smooth it down - and press some of the drained cherries in. Then top with the vanilla mix. Bake as per standard recipe for a quick and easy "Donauwellen" (Waves of the Danube) cake.

Not to forget that a very simple and quick Black Forest Gateau fix can be made with a Dairy Milk chocolate mini roll, (or any brand, but it has to be the kind with the chocolate creme, not the white creme) cut into pieces and drizzled with some of the liquid from the jar. Then dollop on some thick or whipped (or even squirty) cream and top with a few cherries.

We also came up with lots of savoury options. Simmer the whole jar until soft, and serve with pork, gammon or duck. Veggies might enjoy adding some cherries to a channa daal recipe, as my friend suggested something curry with the cherries. This flavour suggestion then got me thinking that Persian food uses sour fruit a lot, and so then something involving all or some of ground walnuts, pomegranate molasses, split chickpeas, cumin and sumac would work very well with the cherries, perhaps served with some grains.

Basically, experiment and try things, and don't let your imagination hold you back! 

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