Time spent pitting and freezing cherries last summer is paying off for Armanda Krantz of Suttons Bay.

A sample of "Aunt Karen's Cherry Coffee Cake" includes
cherries that were pitted and frozen last summer.

She just has to go to her freezer to find the fruits of her labor: pre-measured food server plastic bags filled with a mixture of tart and sweet cherries.

“My mom brought over some cherries and we pitted them, put them on racks and put them in the freezer,” explained Krantz, who jokes about standing in the culinary shadow of her mother, Mary Forton, known throughout the county and statewide for her kitchen prowess. “Then we packed them in these bags with the food server which takes out all the air before it is sealed.”

The most time consuming part of the task is pitting. But that was made easier with a simple machine that pits the fruit, collects the pits and separates them from the edible remnants.

“I kept complaining, so mom bought this for my birthday one year,” she said, holding out the bag to show the IQF (individually quick frozen) fruit. “But the cherries have to be firm or they just fall apart.”

Krantz, whose two older sons have played varsity football at Suttons Bay for the past four years, has become known to their teammates and coaches for her baking talent. Her yummy Norsemen No-Bake cookies are a staple before the regular season opener and finale, as well as the pre-game dinner prior to each playoff game.

But when the winter wind blows cold, she hits her cherry cache, making not only pie, but her Aunt Karen’s cherry coffee cake.

ARMANDA KRANTZ shows a sheet of cherry coffee cake
she made, and a box that contains the cherry pitter she used
last summer before freezing the cherries.

“We were having one of our Forton pig roasts and my Aunt Karen (Forton) brought this coffee cake that was great,” she explained. “It’s very easy. I don’t do anything hard.”

Krantz thawed a 4-cup package of cherries and reserved one cup of juice for her filling. She mixed sugar, cornstarch and salt in a heavy sauce pan and slowly poured in the crimson fruit liquid. Heat from the stove top dissolved the sugar and the starch thickened the sauce to which the fruit was added.

Krantz set the mixture aside and began work on the batter. Mixing sugar, butter, shortening, vanilla and eggs, Krantz measured her dry ingredients — flour and baking powder — and combined the two into a thick batter. She spread one-half of the batter in a pre-greased 11-by-17-inch pan and covered it with the cooled filling.

Krantz dropped the rest of the batter by the spoonful, carefully spreading the batter to cover as much of the fruit as possible.

After 30 to 35 minutes in a 350-degree oven the cherry masterpiece was ready to cool. The icing, made from powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, was drizzled over the top of the cooled cake and was ready for us to have a taste.

“The secret is the almond extract,” Krantz said. “I think that’s what makes it special.”
Aunt Karen's Cherry Coffee Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups flour
1 large can cherry pie filling or 4 cups free pie filling (see below)

In a medium mixing bowl, mix flour and baking powder. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine butter, shortening, and sugar until creamy. Ad vanilla, almond extract and eggs.

Beat until well mixed. Add dry ingredients, mix thoroughly. In a greased 11-by-17-inch baking pan, spread 1/2 batter. Spread pie filling over batter. Drop by spoonfuls the rest of the batter over pie filling. Carefully spread batter to cover as much as possible.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. When cooled drizzle icing over top.

Cherry filling

1 cup cherry juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. almond extract
4 cups fresh or frozen cherries (thawed)

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt in a heavy medium sauce pan. Stir in juice. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add fruit and almond extract. Cool.

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar
2 to 3 tbls. milk
vanilla