Celebrating July Fourth with a Plop

Ingredients

• For cherry base:
• 3 pints fresh cherries, about 2 pounds
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• For plop batter:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• Sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan and set aside.
3. Rinse, de-stem and pit cherries.
4. Spread evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking pan.
5. Thoroughly combine brown sugar and nutmeg and sprinkle evenly over the cherries.
6. Cut the first quantity of butter into small chunks and scatter on top of cherries.
7. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the first four (dry) ingredients for the batter.
8. Whisk together remaining (wet) ingredients to thoroughly incorporate.
9. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon, just to combine. (Do not overmix; a few lumps will be okay.)
10. Pour the batter evenly over the cherries.
11. Sprinkle the surface of the batter lightly with sugar.
12. Bake plop for 25 to 30 minutes, until surface is firm to the touch and cherry juices are bubbling. Serve warm out of the oven or at room temperature—naked or with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream.