If life is a bowl of cherries then what's a cherry icebox pie with a helping of white chocolate and whipped cream? I decided to text that to 20 of my friends and here are their responses:
- "heaven?"
- "the universe"
- "Richard Branson's life?"
- "Hm...A cold, sweet and creamy life...Whatever that means"
- "De-f***ing-licious!"
- "a great night of sex"
- "huh?"
- "Mmmmmmm!!!!!! Yummy. :-p"
- "Gloriousness"
- "An amazing life"
- "Love it"
- "?"
- "Nirvana? Cherries Nirvana."
- "going off the rails on a cherry bomb!" and "All-Cherry American Pie Bomb"
- "amazingness"
- "Heaven!!"
- "did you just make some?" and "can I come over?"
- "R u drunk in Europe? J/k...Sounds very yummy...all American dessert...."
- "Is this for reals? That's called living!"
- "A life sentence"
Well, I concur. Sometimes more is MORE. Sometimes life calls for cocoa fat and whipped cream.
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
INGREDIENTS: (makes six 5” tarts)
- 18 graham crackers (2 ½ by 5 inches)
- 8 tbsp. sugar
- 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 3# fresh bing cherries, stemmed, pitted and cut in half
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 oz. good quality white chocolate (in a bar or block; I used Valrhona)
For the crust:
-Preheat oven to 350° F. -In a food processor, blend the graham crackers with 4 tablespoons sugar until finely ground. -Add the melted butter and pulse until crumbs are moistened. -Press mixture into the bottoms and sides of six 5” ceramic tart containers. -Bake until crust is lightly browned, 15-18 minutes. -Let cool completely.
For the filling:
-Stem and pit the cherries using a cherry pitter. Cut cherries in half to ensure there are no pits. You should have approximately 8 cups.
-In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine 3 tablespoons of sugar, 4 cups of the cherries and salt. Continually smash with a potato masher and cook 10 minutes; the cherries will release liquid.
-Reduce to low heat and add the cornstarch and vanilla extract and cook another 2 minutes, stirring, to thicken and cook out the cornstarch flavor (you should 2 cups after cooking).
-Stir in remaining 4 cups of cherries and let cool.
For the whipped cream:
-In the bowl of a mixer fit with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream and remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar until soft peaks form.
To finish:
-Using a vegetable peeler, shave the white chocolate; reserve shavings.
-Chop the remaining white chocolate and melt over a double boiler; disperse evenly amongst the 6 crusts, covering the bottom of each.
-Spoon the cherry filling mixture over the white chocolate.
-Refrigerate until filling is chilled (about 2 hours).
-When ready to eat, garnish with white chocolate shavings and whipped cream.
