Every gas station in Michigan has cherry pies for sale.
Weird? Not to them.
But if you try to buy a cherry pie from a gas station here in Wisconsin, people will ask if you’re okay. If you stumble upon someone really nice, they’ll offer a cheese danish or custard as an alternative.
That’s what happens with regional food.
Michigan grows a ton of cherries, especially around Traverse City, and those cherries end up EVERYWHERE. From ice cream stands to fancy restaurant menus, everyone has a cherry ‘something’ to offer.
But Wisconsin grows a lot of cherries, too, so how come cherry desserts are usually only seasonal offers?
Why Traverse City Went All In on Cherries
As I’ve mentioned just now, both states grow plenty of cherries, but Michigan made cherries into a thing.
It’s a hook for tourists.
Traverse City went all in, and it started with the National Cherry Festival.
This isn’t your little parade with a pie-eating contest on the side. Oh, no, this is an actual event that lasts for a week. There are cherry pit spitting contests, cherry queen pageants, cherry-themed air shows, and acres of vendors selling literally anything you can imagine made of cherries, so don’t even try to visit if you’re on a diet.
Naturally, this built up quite a reputation, and soon enough, there were cherry salsa and cherry barbecue sauce being sold next to pies and jams.
Restaurants are no different. They have cherry pancakes, cherry smoothies, and even a cherry vinaigrette for the salad.
Overkill? Not for anyone living there.
You can find cherry wineries and cider houses, too. Basically, as hard as you might try, you have no chance at avoiding cherries. Even if you don’t eat it, you’ll still see it on signs and menus.
I have an acquaintance who lives in Traverse City, and I was astonished to see that cherries are included in every angle celebration or family event. He’s a tough guy, so I wouldn’t expect him to be so serious about fruit, but that’s exactly it, isn’t it?
It’s not just fruit to Michiganders.
Anyway, the reason I’m mentioning this is that he recently took the Michigan fire alarm exam prep – a program designed to prepare future Michigan fire alarm technicians for their licensing exam – which meant he had a lot of studying to do.
And do you know what he took with him for the actual exam?
His lucky charm is a cherry key pendant.
Once he passed, his wife ordered the biggest cherry cake you’ve ever seen to celebrate his licensing. I’ll tell you, these people don’t kid around with their cherries.
Wisconsin Was Always More About Dairy Desserts
Look at desert menus here in Wisconsin, and you won’t see treats revolving around a fruit.
Our star is dairy; always has been.
That makes total sense if you remember how many families have some connection to a dairy farm or a creamery.
Heck, I bet even you have a neighbor who once worked at one of these. Butter, cream, and cheese were never reserved for special occasions; they’re what we all have in our fridges at all times.
We have immigrant groups who settled in Wisconsin to thank for this.
Families from Germany brought their recipes for rich butter cakes and custard-filled pastries, and Polish kitchens turned out sweet cheese-filled kolaczki and dense pound cakes. And FYI, Polish desserts have a shocking amount of butter. Scandinavians brought their kringle, and Central European traditions added creamy rice pudding and baked cheesecakes (another FYI, these cheesecakes taste NOTHING like those heavy New York ones).
No cherries anywhere.
Over time, a few desserts became staples in Wisconsin.
The Kringle actually became a symbol all over the state, and it’s almost as recognizable as a dairy cow. Frozen custard is another popular dessert, and you can’t have a church coffee hour or a funeral lunch without cream cheese pastries. To be clear, fruit is welcome in any dessert, but it’s not the star; cream and butter are.
You could order a delicious custard tart that has a raspberry or a slice of peach on top, but the real flavor comes from the rich filling that’s under the fruit.
And honestly, this all goes perfectly with the cold winters here.
When the temperature doesn’t go above zero for weeks, you don’t want a light fruit dessert. As healthy as cherries are, you want something heavy and baked, with lots of butter and cream.
That’s way more satisfying. Cream cheese bars, butter torte, sour cream coffee cake, kringle variations, etc. Pair it with snow and a crackling fire, and you’ve got yourself the ultimate cozy evening.
Conclusion
Well… Now I’m hungry. Actually, I’m craving something creamy and sweet. And I don’t know about you, but I could go for a cherry pie OR a kringle, both are delicious.
I hope nobody takes this article as ‘this one’s better than the other’ because that wasn’t my point. I just wanted to explore desserts because I like sweets, that’s it. And I find it so interesting that Michigan is so crazy about cherries that they’re using cherries on everything, not just in food.
Don’t tell anyone, but if I have to choose, I’ll go for a rich cheesecake over a cherry cake any day.
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