Cheryomukha Tart
“A dark cake made from ground bird-cherry flour — Siberia's wild forest fruit milled into cocoa-brown almond-scented powder.”
Where it comes from
Cheryomukha (черёмуха, bird cherry / Prunus padus) is a wild cherry that grows across Siberia. Its small black fruits are dried whole and ground — pits and all — into a flour with the texture of cocoa and a flavor between almond, marzipan, and tart cherry. The Buryat and Russian Siberian kitchens use this flour in cakes, pelmeni-fillings, and breakfast porridges. The cake form is the most famous outside the region.
On the plate
A Siberian tart filled with ground bird-cherry seeds and pits — the seeds taste of bitter almond, the filling is dark purple-black. Distinct, slightly medicinal Siberian dessert.
How it works
Cheryomukha (Prunus padus) seeds contain amygdalin, which breaks down into benzaldehyde during baking — the same compound that gives bitter almond extract its flavor. The Siberian climate ripens the cherries faster than European varieties.
Variations
Siberian cheryomukha tart uses bird cherry; Russian Far East version uses Aronia berry; modern Russian version uses morello cherry — three dark-fruit pastries.
On the Palate
Ingredients
How it's made
6 steps · Show ↓
How it's made
6 steps · Show ↓- 17 min
Mix 200g bird-cherry flour with 250ml hot milk; let steep 30 minutes — the flour swells and softens.
- 27 min
Whisk 3 eggs with 200g sugar until pale; beat in 100g softened butter.
- 37 min
Fold the steeped bird-cherry mixture into the eggs. Sift in 200g wheat flour and 1 tsp baking soda; mix just until combined.
- 456 min
Pour batter into a buttered 24cm springform pan. Bake at 180°C for 35-40 minutes; toothpick should come out with moist crumbs.
- 59 min
Cool completely. Slice horizontally and fill with 250g sour cream whipped with 80g sugar.
- 64 min
Dust the surface with bird-cherry flour to serve — the top looks like dark forest soil.
