German cherry cake is a pantry standout

A thin blanket of snow covers my driveway, and although that might not stop people in colder climes from driving to the supermarket, it

does this Southern girl.

I shy away from driving through even the smallest dusting of snow. So I rely on my stocked winter pantry to guide me through dinner the best it can.

Provided I’ve got canned beans, chicken broth, tuna and perhaps some pasta on the shelf, I’ve got a meal in the making. I simmer white beans until tender in broth with garlic, onion and bay leaf, then serve them spooned over pasta with tuna and maybe black olives or a dab of prepared pesto sauce.

And for dessert? A dandy of a cake made for colder weather. This recipe is from a Nashville, Tenn., friend who has German roots. It was prepared by her German-born, California-based grandmother and has been updated through the years to use a cake mix.

The canned tart cherries in the sweet batter and the warm cherry sauce poured over it give the cake a decidedly German flavor and a from-the-pantry modern ease.

Five time-shaving desserts from the pantry shelf:

• Use cherry pie filling or other flavors of pie fillings in cake recipes.

• Combine Key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk and whipped topping in a graham cracker shell.

• Bake brownies from a mix, brush with Kahlua while warm, then sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

• Layer chocolate wafer cookies and sweetened whipped cream in a casserole dish, cover and chill overnight, then spoon onto serving plates.

• Simmer canned peaches with a cinnamon stick and a teaspoon of vanilla, then spoon this over vanilla ice cream.

Happy Valley cherry cake

The preparation time is 10 minutes, the baking time is 43 to 45 minutes, and the assembly time is 10 minutes.

CAKE:

Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan

1 18.25-ounce package plain lemon cake mix

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

1 cup whole milk

3 large eggs

1 14-1/2 ounce can pitted tart red cherries packed in water

CHERRY SAUCE:

3/8 cup cherry juice (reserved after draining cherries)

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon almond extract

Lightly mist a 13-by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Set the pan aside.

Place cake mix, melted butter, milk and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop machine; scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.

Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping sides down again, if needed. The batter should look thick and well-blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it out with rubber spatula. Drain cherries, reserving the water, and place them on top of the batter, spacing them out in the pan. Place pan on middle rack of preheated 350-degree oven.

Bake cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 43 to 45 minutes.

Remove pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool while you prepare the sauce.

For cherry sauce, place reserved 3/8 cup cherry juice, 1/2 cup water, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and almond extract in a saucepan over low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Cut cake into squares, and use a metal spatula to flip squares out onto serving plates, upside down.

Pour cherry sauce over squares and serve. (Store cake without sauce, covered in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to three days or in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Prepare cherry sauce right before serving.) Serves 20.

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