Top Eastern European Cherry Recipes
Cherry trees grow with wild abandon in Eastern Europe. While the dark, sour Morello variety is favored, Bing cherries and fire-engine-red Montmorency cherries are also popular. Cherries find themselves in everything from cordials to soups to sauces and desserts. Read more about cherries.
When summer gives up its bounty of fresh fruit, preserve that sun-kissed flavor in brandy to be enjoyed on ice cream or pound cake year-round. Brandied fruit makes an excellent item for an edible gift basket. But it takes at least one month for the fruit to be at its inebriated best (longer is better!), so keep that in mind when making for gift-giving.More »
This Hungarian sour cherry cake recipe or meggyes lepény, also known as cseresznyes lepeny, which is the generic name for cherries, sweet or sour, is a simple dessert made with the sour cherries Eastern Europeans love. Dark Morellos or fire-engine-red Montmorency varieties can be used. This cake is sometimes eaten for breakfast and is similar to Czech cherry bublanina (see below).More »
Polish sour cherry compote recipe or kompot z wisni is typically served on its own as a dessert or as a dessert sauce with sernik, pound cake or ice cream.More »
1. Hungarian Sour Cherry Soup Recipe
This Hungarian recipe for sour cherry soup goes by many names -- meggy leves, cseresznye leves, meggykeszoce, cibere -- and its sweetness varies with the cook. It's typically served cold in the summer when cherries are plentiful.More »2. Bulgarian Cherry Strudel Recipe
There are many varieties of strudel in the Balkans, ranging from poppyseed, raisin and honey, to sweet cheese, apple and cherry. Unlike some strudel doughs, this cherry strudel dough is not made with yeast. It is rolled out thinly to produce a flaky crust rather than a puffy one.More »3. Croatian Sour Cherry Strudel Recipe
This recipe for Croatian sour cherry strudel or fil za strudlu s tresnjama ili visnjama uses tart Morello or Montmorency cherries as opposed to the sweet Bings used in the Bulgarian cherry strudel, above.More »4. Brandied Fruit Recipe
When summer gives up its bounty of fresh fruit, preserve that sun-kissed flavor in brandy to be enjoyed on ice cream or pound cake year-round. Brandied fruit makes an excellent item for an edible gift basket. But it takes at least one month for the fruit to be at its inebriated best (longer is better!), so keep that in mind when making for gift-giving.More »
5. Mixed Berry Summer Pudding Recipe
Summer puddings are popular throughout Eastern Europe. They make good use of stale bread and summer's bounty of fruit. This no-bake dessert is perfect for the dog days of summer.More »6. Czech Cherry Bublanina Recipe
This simple coffee cake-like dessert is made with seasonal fruits and is called a Bublanina, from the Czech word for bubble and might refer to the fact that the cake batter bubbles up around the fruit, almost enveloping it.More »7. Hungarian Sour Cherry Cake Recipe
This Hungarian sour cherry cake recipe or meggyes lepény, also known as cseresznyes lepeny, which is the generic name for cherries, sweet or sour, is a simple dessert made with the sour cherries Eastern Europeans love. Dark Morellos or fire-engine-red Montmorency varieties can be used. This cake is sometimes eaten for breakfast and is similar to Czech cherry bublanina (see below).More »
8. Hungarian Sour Cherry Yeast Cake Recipe
This Hungarian sour cherry cake recipe or meggyes lepény, also known as cseresznyes lepeny, which is the generic name for cherries, sweet or sour, is a simple dessert made with sour cherries, almonds and a yeast dough that is baked immediately (no rising).More »9. Hungarian Sour Cherry Sauce Recipe
This recipe for Hungarian cherry sauce or cseresznye martas is a savory sauce made with sour cherries and usually paired with chicken, potatoes or game meats. Once the half-and-half and sour cream are added, it takes on a pinkish hue. This is not a dessert sauce.More »10. Polish Sour Cherry Compote Recipe
Polish sour cherry compote recipe or kompot z wisni is typically served on its own as a dessert or as a dessert sauce with sernik, pound cake or ice cream.More »
