Christmastime in Virginia is always associated with Uncle Lucky and Aunt Bert’s fruitcake sweets. When cookies are stored, they will soften and have a more complex flavor. The flavor will mellow out further as the cookies sit. They freeze wonderfully, too.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 55 mins |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 1 9×13-inch cake |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon milk, or as needed
- 2 (16 ounce) cans pitted sour cherries, drained
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon (Optional)
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking dish. Whisk together 1 1/2 cup of sifted flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- With a pastry cutter, chop the unsalted butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs; mix in 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of milk, creating a dough; if dough seems dry and crumbly, mix in additional milk, a teaspoon at a time. Pat the dough into the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle the cherries evenly over the dough.
- In a bowl, sift 3/4 cup of sugar with 2 tablespoons of flour; whisk in the 3 eggs and 3/4 cup of milk until smooth. Mix in cinnamon and nutmeg if desired; pour the mixture over the cherries. In a small bowl, using a pastry cutter, chop 2 tablespoons of butter with 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup flour until crumbly; sprinkle the streusel over the custard mixture.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the custard is set and the streusel is lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold; refrigerate leftovers.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 204 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 27 g |
| Cholesterol | 59 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 107 mg |
| Sugars | 17 g |
| Fat | 9 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I make this quite often for my children as a breakfast item and as a dessert. They like it both hot or cold. I ate one at a Bainbridge Island bakery, not good. If I’m making it wrong, why does it taste so right. This is a great recipe.
Good, low sugar – especially if you leave off the topping – dessert. I would’ve liked it thicker, but it took longer than listed anyway so maybe that wouldn’t be a good idea in reality. The crust is thick enough really – just like the photos – but I’d like more custard m’self. ‘A little almond extract would be good in the custard, I think. The crust is more crispy (in a good way) than usual pie crust. (Yes, I know it’s not a pie, but I thought the crust would be pie-like. :D) The topping was a good ratio, but I don’t think it’s needed. With the custard being wet, then moist, it’s going to dissolve anyway. ‘Think I’ll try this with blues.
Hubs said he thought this tasted better than it looked, but I have to disagree. It’s true, it doesn’t present well and I think it tastes about as good as it looks. The crust is very floury tasting, and the topping really isn’t a topping at all, it just settles into the custard and sort of disappears. There isn’t much cherry flavor, the dominating flavor being the floury tasting crust. I’m afraid this was not a hit at all.
I really liked that this dessert is not overly sweet. The “streusel” layer didn’t really work for me as it blended into the custard layer, which is too bad, because this could really use some texture to it. I subbed raspberries and needed to bake for 45 minutes.
not very good. Used tart cherries. If they were sugared and cooked before adding.. might be better.
Loved this! Absolutely wonderful and not hard to make. I found the recipe a couple weeks ago and have made this twice already. I am planning on making it again in a few days to take to work. I can honestly say it is one of the best cherry desserts ever!
Very tasty, and easy to make. My only question is I’m not sure if I got the right texture for the custard. According to the recipe, is the custard part suppose to come out more creamy or more cakey? Not sure if I word it right either. I baked it for 30 minutes, and I’m not sure if I over cooked the custard. The Streusel layer also seems to have dissolved into the custard layer as I was sprinkling it on before baking, is that what’s suppose to happen?
Our whole family loves this. Inspired by a German bakery by our home, I gave this a try. Perfection. I only use 1 bowl and add a bit of vanilla to the custard. Not too sweet, perfect and easy. Think your biggest challenge is finding the sour cherries. Try this. Thanks for sharing.
This was so much fun to make! I am eating the Cherry Custard Kuchen right now as I review this amazing recipe. Fresh and hot out of the oven and I love it! Things I did different: I used fresh cherries instead of canned. I had a whole bag of cherries that my husband and I didnt touch-and I just couldnt throw them away. So I kept searching and searching until I came across this recipe. And I have to admit, I was a little scared. I kept going back and forth and debating if I was brave enough to make it. And well, I was lol. I really am shocked at how much I love this little dessert. I wasnt sure if my husband will like it, but I’m about to take his dinner to his work (he works late tonight) and we’ll see what he has to say. All I have to say is baby and I are really enjoying it! (4 months pregnant) If you are looking at this recipe thinking there is too much work involved, I promise you-there isnt. And try something new, I did and look I love it! Im a fan. xoxo happy eating!
Also works fantastically well in a standard crust. Very delicious and simple!
What a creamy and fruity treat this was. The only substitution I made was I used blueberries instead of cherries as I didn’t have cherries. Otherwise wonderful as written.
This is truely wonderful! It seemed like alot of work reading the recipe, but it took no time at all. My husband loved it, I loved it. I only made one change. Instead of white sugar in the final topping, I used brown, other than that, no changes needed. LOVE…LOVE…LOVE it!!!=D