80 kirsch recipes

Classic French currant tart with a vanilla butter pastry shell, silky pastry cream, fresh red currants, and a kirsch-currant jelly glaze edged with toasted almonds.

Kirsch-spiked cherry cobbler topped with cream cheese shortcake biscuits and served with cherry brandy whipped cream. A rustic-elegant dessert in under an hour.

Traditional Swiss Basel Leckerli: honey-spice cookie bars with cinnamon, cloves, candied peels, kirsch, and almonds under a crackly sugar glaze. Makes 50 to 60 bars that keep for weeks.

Chicken breast with sour cherry sauce, cracked peppercorns, and coriander in a white wine-brandy reduction. A French-inspired pan sauce built right in the skillet.

Fruit-filled yeast bread wrapped around a dense, spiced filling of dried pears, prunes, raisins and walnuts spiked with kirsch. The fruit is enclosed in a soft enriched dough and baked golden. A festive, slice-and-serve loaf.

Cherry clafouti with Bing cherries and kirsch baked in a light custard made with whole-wheat flour and evaporated skim milk, served warm in individual ramekins.

An elegant chilled walnut custard cream spiked with kirsch, unmolded and drizzled with warm chocolate sauce. A make-ahead French-inspired dinner party dessert that serves 10.

Swiss Leckerli cookies: honey-spiced almond bars with candied citrus peel and kirsch, finished with a hardening sugar glaze. Traditional Basel Christmas market sweet that improves with age.

Frozen peach torte layered with white chocolate kirsch mousse, chopped peaches, and a toasted almond crumb crust. An elegant make-ahead summer dessert.

Swiss Aargau carrot cake made with ground almonds, grated carrots, kirsch, and cornstarch instead of flour. Finished with apricot glaze, fondant icing, and marzipan carrots.

White chocolate cashew pie, a sophisticated cousin to pecan pie with chunks of cashew, melty white chocolate, and a splash of kirsch cherry brandy. Brown-sugar custard, made-from-scratch crust.

A self-saucing chocolate pudding cake spiked with kirsch that creates its own hot fudge sauce as it bakes. Scoop out the cake, spoon the gooey chocolate pudding from beneath, and top with cherry pie filling.

Pickled pineapple meringue freezes a meringue with pink-peppercorn-pickled pineapple, almonds, and cream, then plates with raspberry sauce and dramatic chocolate spires. Restaurant-style frozen dessert.

Creamy onion soup with Emmentaler cheese, kirsch, and horseradish in a smooth roux-based broth. Not the classic browned French style. Translucent onions, white wine, and a fondue-like finish.

Creamy raspberry-glazed cheesecake on a cinnamon graham cracker crust with sour cream, lemon zest, and a fresh raspberry glaze finished with framboise. Rich, tangy, and berry-topped.

A Swiss showstopper: fresh plums caramelized in red wine, kirsch, and honey with pine nuts and pistachios, topped with homemade cinnamon ice cream. Serve warm or cold.