‘Awesome’ cherry crisp brightened school lunches

Our hero of the day wishes to remain anonymous, which is too bad, because when you taste her dessert you will want to shake her hand.

She is adamant, however, so all I can tell you is that she graduated in 1959 from Kahuku High School, where she was a member of Future Homemakers of America. The group’s adviser was Miss Fukumitsu, the school’s cafeteria manager, who gave the young bakers a recipe for a school favorite, cherry crisp.

"I can still remember seeing the huge pans of it sitting on the counter in the cafeteria," Anonymous Donor wrote. "The cherries oozed through the crispy, buttery crust. Mmm."

All these decades later, that recipe came to mind when Colleen Takemori’s request was printed here: "Would you have the recipe to a cherry crisp that Highlands Intermediate used to serve with lunch during the ’60s when I was there? The cafeteria manager, Mrs. Hisanaga, had an awesome recipe for this."

Different school, different cafeteria lady, but the time frame is about right. I have no frame of reference for this dessert, but I tried Anonymous Donor’s recipe, and it is a winner: sweet, tart, soft, crunchy and very buttery, all at once.

Two things you need to know:

>> You’ll need canned tart cherries — not the same as, more expensive and harder to find than cherry pie filling. Look for them in the canned fruit aisle, not the baking aisle; a common brand is Oregon Fruit Products (see photo). I found mine at Walmart, and they were pricey — the three cans called for cost nearly $12.

>> The bottom layer is supposed to be a flaky pie crust but is pressed into the bottom of the pan like shortbread. Anonymous Donor says she never could achieve that flakiness and suspects the school’s commercial gas ovens were partly responsible for the texture. She insists the crust was not rolled out and not pre-baked. I am suggesting pre-baking anyway; without it the crust seems too soft.

Is this the Highlands recipe? I can’t say for sure. Is it delicious? Mmm.

KAHUKU HIGH SCHOOL CHERRY CRISP

>> Crust:
2-1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
>> Filling:
3 14.5-ounce cans tart cherries (about 4 cups), drained
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch pan.

For crust, combine flour and sugar. Cut in cold butter until pea-size pieces of dough form. Spread half of mixture into bottom of pan and press down gently. Do not pack. Bake 10 minutes, until lightly brown. Reduce heat to 350 degrees.

Combine filling ingredients. Spread over crust and top with remaining crumb mixture. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until top is browned. Will be quite soft when warm; firmer when chilled. 

Nutritional information unavailable.

Peanut butter correction

Last week’s recipe for Peanut Butter Coffee Cake called for 1 pound 4 ounces of peanut butter. That amount is correct, but the translation into cups is where I messed up. If you’re measuring by cup, the amount is 2-1/2 cups.

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