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National Cherry Turnover Day

Food · August 28

A food day for the cherry turnover, a folded pastry with a bright cherry filling, and for the sour and sweet cherries that go inside it.

National Cherry Turnover Day falls on Saturday, August 28, 2027. That is 305 days away.

Cut a cherry turnover in half and the filling tells you most of the story. It is glossy, deep red and a little runny at the edges, tucked inside a triangle or half-moon of crisp pastry that crackles when you bite it.

The cherry itself decides how the pastry tastes. Sour cherries, sometimes called tart or pie cherries, are the classic baking choice. They are too sharp for most people to eat by the handful, but cooked with sugar they turn bold and jammy and hold their flavor through the oven. Sweet cherries, the dark kind sold fresh for snacking, make a milder, mellower filling and usually want a squeeze of lemon to wake them up.

Most home bakers never pit a fresh cherry for a turnover. Canned cherries and cherry pie filling are common shortcuts, and frozen cherries work well too. Frozen fruit gives off a lot of juice as it thaws, so bakers often drain it or thicken the filling with cornstarch so the pastry stays crisp instead of soggy.

Bakery turnovers are often finished with a thin drizzle of white icing. At home, puff pastry from the freezer case makes the job quick, and a spoonful of filling goes a long way. Overfill one and it will tell on you, leaking a sticky red trail across the baking sheet.

A cherry turnover is at its best slightly warm, when the filling has settled and the pastry still shatters.

Ways to celebrate

• Try a cherry turnover from a local bakery and note the filling.
• Bake turnovers at home with frozen puff pastry and canned cherries.
• Compare a sour cherry filling with a sweet cherry one side by side.
• Add a thin drizzle of powdered sugar icing to homemade turnovers.

Dates

All national days on August 28

Also on August 28

• National Bow Tie Day
• National Red Wine Day

Categories: Food days