Sweet, jammy cherries and a buttery oat and almond topping bake up into a cozy, crowd-pleasing dessert that will look like you spent days planning—even if you panicked and made this just an hour before your guests arrived.
Meet Cherry Panic. The name alone was enough to stop us in our tracks when Senior Homes & Features Editor Betsy Watson told us about this one-of-a-kind dessert she enjoyed as a kid. Here’s her story:
“My introduction to Cherry Panic dessert came with as much urgency as its name. ‘You’ve got to try this,’ my friend told me, shoving a glass casserole dish and a plastic fork in my hands as we stood beside our high school lockers. ‘It’s Cherry Panic. My mom’s friend always makes it for me for my birthday, and it’s delicious,'” she explains.
Watson concludes, “I’m not entirely sure where the name comes from. Perhaps it’s because you can make it when you’re down to the wire and urgently in need of a dessert; or maybe because it’s so delicious, you’ll panic when it’s gone. Either way, Cherry Panic is an old-faithful dessert worth trying—and soon.”
Recipe Tips For Cherry Panic
Leftovers would be good at room temp for a couple of days if you want to preserve the texture of the streusel, but it will last five days or so in the fridge.Don’t make Cherry Panic too far in advance. Serve the day you bake it. If needed, you could reheat it in an oven, but after a day, the streusel will start to turn soggy.You could use cherries in heavy or light syrup if that is what you have. Or even frozen cherries would work. Just add some store-bought cherry juice or water if you’re using frozen.It’s all good if you don’t have brown sugar; granulated sugar will do just fine. The complex sweetness of brown sugar is just a bonus for flavor.
Editor’s Note: This recipe was developed by Craig Ruff; the headnote was written by Kimberly Holland.
Dining and Cooking