A Very Cherry 4th of July

How was your holiday weekend? We had a fantastic and cherry-filled 4th of July, 5th of July, and even 6th of July!

Mr. S loves cherries. Please refer to this post to see how cherries render my otherwise incredibly intelligent husband to caveman status. It's hilarious.

To his sheer delight, cherry season aligned perfectly with the holiday this year. They went on sale for $1.49 a pound on the Wednesday before the 4th. I dutifully loaded up The Bean and we adventured to a grocery store chain we'd never been to in a quest for cheap cherries. $12 worth of cherries later, I'd say we were successful.

So I spent most of the morning on the 4th elbow deep in cherries. 

Thank goodness I own a cherry pitter. Found on sale at the end of the summer a few years ago, I'm certain that I paid about $5 for it. But now I'd probably pay a king's ransom. If you've ever spent time pitting cherries with a knife, you know what I'm talking about.

"I think I'll make a cherry pie." Three cherries pitted mangled later... "I think I'll make a little cherry tart." Another two cherries pitted... "To heck with this! I'll serve ice cream and set out a bowl of cherries!"

But the magical pitter will have 4 cups of cherries pitted in no time flat. Oh great and wonderful mono-tasker! I shall never doubt your worth again.

So we did make a cherry pie, from Joy the Baker's recipe. There are no photos. It went quickly!

And then I made a cherry trifle. Cause nothing says 4th of July like fruit and cake and whipped cream all layered up. Mmmm!

It's a pretty easy process-

Make chocolate cake from a box mix (or you can bake it from scratch, but box is perfectly acceptable). Cut into little squares.

Cut up some peaches and slice the cherries in half. Beat up some whipped cream. Be sure to remember the vanilla.

Have everything out and ready to layer!

I start with a layer of chocolate cake, then some cherries, a layer of peaches, then a layer of whipped cream. Repeat.

Not the most beautiful side shot, but you get the idea. You can decorate the top with a little piece of everything that went in it. That way folks can see what goodness lurks beneath the whipped cream.

We brought the trifle to a party on the 4th up at a dear friend's ranch. It was beautiful. We didn't stay till it was dark enough for fireworks, but left just as the sun was setting. What an amazing view of the valley. 

Oh, and the trifle was a hit. We only had one small cereal bowl's worth of leftovers. (Which Mr. S finished off promptly the next morning)

Chocolate Cherry Trifle

(Makes 1 gigantic bowl of trifle)

~2.5 lbs cherries, pitted and sliced in half

3 peaches, chopped into bite size pieces

1 from-a-box chocolate cake, made as instructed and sliced into 1 inch chunks

1 pint heavy cream

1/3 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mint to garnish (optional)

Whip the heavy cream with a beater until peaks just start to form. Gently add the sugar while beating. Add vanilla and beat until you achieve soft peaks. Don't over beat! (The cream separates and it's messy). 

Layer a good amount of chocolate cake bits in the bottom of a large clear serving bowl. Layer in half the cherries. Next top with half the peaches. Then smooth on half the whipped cream. More cake, cherries, peaches, and cream. Decorate the top as you please (mint garnish here if desired). 

Let sit in the fridge for several hours. Or take straight to the party. Either way works just fine. 

(And if you eat the leftovers for breakfast the next morning, I promise not to tell)