Wild Cherry Tartlets

My mom has wild cherry trees in her backyard, and my niece and nephew enjoy picking berries this time of year. When I was home a couple weekends ago Olivia slept over and we baked muffin-sized pies on Sunday morning.  

The flavor is pretty good for wild fruit—tart but not too tart. 

There isn't a recipe as such: we used about 1/3 of a classic Julia Child pie crust using Earth Balance butter and shortening (bearing in mind that recipe yields two double crusts), which I'd tucked in the freezer the last time I baked an apple pie; four heaping cups of pitted cherries, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Baked at 350º for about 45 minutes. Yields a dozen.  

Even sweeter than dessert, of course, was getting to spend QT with my not-so-little-anymore niece. She is so can-do and independent! 

Riding bumper cars at the carnival with my niece: "I don't want to run into anyone, I just want to DRIVE!" She's 8 and ready for her permit!

— Camille DeAngelis (@cometparty) June 14, 2015