Karen’s mother makes the best pies and jams, every summer they would pick sour cherries from a tree in their neighbor Mrs. Brownfield’s yard. Karen and her mother would pit the cherries at home and make a double-crust, lattice-topped cherry pie. This dessert panini catches the essence of those same flavors. You can make your own jam or buy a good jar. The optional pickled jalapeños add a nice little kick to offset the sweetness of the mascarpone and sweet jam.
Ingredients
- 8 (1-inch-thick) slices brioche, crusts removed
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup mascarpone
- ½ cup sour cherry jam or preserves
- 4 teaspoons chopped pickled jalapeño pepper (optional)
How to Make It
- Prepare a medium-hot fire in your grill.
- Lightly butter one side of each bread slice and lay, buttered side down, on a baking sheet. Spread 2 tablespoons of mascarpone on 4 of the slices and 2 tablespoons of cherry jam on the other 4 slices. If you would like a little heat, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of pickled jalapeño over the mascarpone. Place the cherry jam side of the bread on top of the mascarpone to make 4 sandwiches.
- Place the sandwiches over the medium-hot fire. Set a foil-wrapped brick on top of each sandwich and grill for about 2 minutes. Remove the bricks and turn the sandwiches if they have good grill marks. Place the bricks on top of the sandwiches again and grill for another 2 minutes. Cut the sandwiches on the diagonal and serve warm.
