Cherry

Sparkly candy canes and winking snowmen aren't for everyone. Salted Honey and Chocolate Bark is a sweet-and-salty confection that even the manliest of men would be pleased to nibble on—or make. No cookie cutters, sprinkles, or icing necessary.

"Don't worry if the fritters seem a little flimsy—they hold together and flip easily during cooking," Bemis says.

Use a pre-made custard as your base and paddle in a sweet-and-boozy cherry and bourbon topping.

Beer in dessert? When it's a naturally sweet brew, we say pour away.

We call this a Persian Kir Royale—and can think of no better way to start a meal. This recipe yields more syrup than you'll need; use the surplus for fruity nonalcoholic spritzers or drizzle it over ice cream.

The combination of creamy ricotta, sweet fruit, rich olive oil, and a little salt is addictive. We'll be serving this for breakfast, brunch, and dessert all summer.

Since the fruit is tart and acidic, the taste for sour cherries right off the tree is an acquired one. When tamed with sweeteners, like sugar or honey, this fruit becomes a natural for liqueurs, preserves, and syrups.

Wiśniówka "Life is dandy, cherry brandy!" So goes a line from a poem by Russian writer Osip Mandelstam—meant to be ironic, of course, as he lived in the darkest days of Stalinism and died in the Gulag. Cherry brandy, cherry vodka, cherry liqueurs: These are the obvious consequence of Eastern Europe's famous and abundant cherry orchards, of which there are just as many in Poland as there are in provincial Russia. Do note that this recipe works for any kind of fruit that is not too sweet. In particular it is worth trying with black currants or Polish jagody—wild blueberries—if you can find them. The quantities given here are for a 34-oz/1-L jar, but do reduce them (or increase them!) in proportion to the bottle you are using.

This fresh seasonal sauce—so good you'll be glad to have leftovers—features less sugar than traditional barbecue sauces. Serve the moist, flavorful chicken on warmed burger buns. Wear rubber gloves when mincing the jalapeño so you don't burn your hands. When prepping the fresh cherries, wear a dark shirt, use a good cherry pitter, and work over two bowls: one for the pits and stems and the other for the usable flesh. Feel into the center of each cherry after pitting and de-stemming to make sure that no pit remains.

Sweeten movie night by whipping up a batch of these treats for your friends. Cherries and oat flour add fiber to make them extra filling.

When you’re feeding a crowd, this is your go-to recipe...a pre-cooked spiral ham with a make-ahead sweet and savory glaze. Delish!

Pancakes say lazy-day lounging with friends. Sour-cherry syrup, which you can make a week ahead, adds a twist on taste.

This cocktail is a fruitier, spritzy, almost punchlike take on the usual Old Fashioned.

This soul-satisfying, butter-crusted, fruit-filled dessert is a straight-up American classic. The flaky, beautifully woven topping offers a tempting peek of whole cherries in all their fresh, tart glory, with none of the gelatinous, sticky-sweet filling you find in most cherry pies. It’s so easy and popular you might want to double the recipe and make two.

This deconstructed praline version of fondue wows time and again thanks to its simplicity and unexpected flavor. While it’s great any time of year, it’s especially suited to the summertime, when you want to keep cooking to a minimum and you have an abundance of berries, melons, peaches, and grapes at peak flavor. This setup is ideal for parties, as it encourages interaction; there’ll be no wallflowers when you set this out.

Soaked in cherry eau-de-vie, these boozy bites are made for Black Forest Cake but taste equally great in a cocktail.

Pistachios contain potassium, a mineral which may help lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Bliss is a few bites away.

This puffy, soufflé-like pancake starts in your blender and makes a fantastic dessert—or breakfast. The honey-sweetened compote works well with fresh or frozen cherries.