From Our Kitchens: Macon locals offer recipes for a merry cherry festival

CHERRY MUFFINS

Our family jumped in with both feet when the Cherry Blossom Festival was created.

We Cooked Ukrainian cuisine for the International Food Fair, showcased Ukrainian dancers at a standing-room-only Macon Little Theatre, placed in the Children’s Parade, hosted the 65th Infantry Division Association reunion and attended every event possible. 

 So, a Cherry Cooking Contest had to be entered. Receiving a phone call from the effervescent food editor Clara Eschmann was quite an honor.  Presenting our recipes and meeting fellow bakers was great fun.
– Surelle K. Pinkston, Macon

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup  chopped maraschino cherries
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup milk
• ¼ cup oil
• 3 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons chopped
  almonds
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Combine the first five ingredients in a large bowl. Combine milk, oil, juice and egg and add to the dry mixture. Stir until moistened.

Spoon into a greased muffin pan or muffin papers, filling ⅔ full. Combine almonds and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Makes one dozen
muffins.

HAM BALLS WITH SPICED CHERRY SAUCE

My husband, Harold, and I  moved to Macon in 1981 and were involved with the festival from the very beginning. We lived in the same neighborhood with founder Carolyn Crayton and were good friends.

I got this recipe out of a Southern Living cookbook. It won first place in one of the Cherry Blossom cookoffs. I think it was because the judges saw it was one of the few main dishes. Most of the others were desserts.
– Helen Weathers, Macon

• 2 cups ground cooked ham
• ⅓ cup dry bread crumbs
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup hot water
• 1 cup cherry preserves
• 2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ cup tart whole cherries

Combine the first five ingredients, mixing well. Shape into 1 ½ inch balls. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add ham balls and cook until brown on all sides.

Pour off drippings and add ¼ cup hot water to ham balls in a skillet.  Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Combine cherry preserves, lemon juice, cinnamon and cloves in a small saucepan. Place over low heat and cook until the mixture comes to a low boil, stirring occasionally. Add whole cherries and heat through.

Place ham balls on a warm platter and spoon sauce over them. Serve with steamed rice. Makes 4 to 6 servings. It may be made into smaller-sized balls and served from a chafing dish as an hors d’oeuvre treat.

EASY CHERRY UPSIDE DOWN CAKE (For Microwave)

I think the recipe is found in general Southern cookbooks as “Dump Cake” because it’s just layering any favorite fruit pie filling with a few other ingredients. My mother used to make it. 
— Barbara Stinson, Macon

• 1 can, 21 ounces, cherry pie filling
• 1 can, 16 ounces, canned peach slices, well drained and diced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ cup chopped nuts
• ½ cup flaked coconut
• 1 yellow cake mix, 2-layer size, with pudding included

Generously grease bottoms of 2 round, 8-inch microwave safe cake dishes. Combine pie filling, peaches, lemon juice, nuts and coconut. Evenly spread in cake dishes and set aside. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Spoon batter evenly over the fruit mixture in the two cake dishes. Microwave one layer at a time, uncovered, at 30 percent (medium low) for 6 minutes. Give the dish a quarter turn. Microwave at full power (high) for 8 to 9 minutes, giving the dish a quarter turn once. When the cake is done, the top is slightly moist and springs back when touched in the center. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the dish. Immediately invert onto a serving dish. Let the cake dish stand over the cake for 2 minutes. Remove the cake dish. Any filling that slides off can be spooned back onto the cake. Serve warm.