Cherry Fruit Ladder

shared by Patty H.  (This is a new recipe that I tried for Christmas this year. Easy & tasty.)

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup butter softened
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour

Filling:
1 can cherry pie filling
1-2 drops almond extract

Glaze:
1 T. water
1 ½ tsp. light corn syrup
½ cup powdered sugar
1-2 drops vanilla

Mix the wet ingredients first. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. Drizzle over the fruit ladder.  This glaze dries hard.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix ingredients with an electric mixer (the dough will be a little sticky before it is chilled).
3. Divide dough in half (this recipe makes TWO ladders). Put each ball of dough in some plastic wrap and flatten it out into a disc shape. Cover well and refrigerate 1 hour.
4. After an hour, remove from fridge and place on waxed paper sprinkled lightly with flour. Roll one of the disks into a rectangle about 15” x 10”. Pick up the crust rectangle and lay it on a lightly greased cookie sheet. (Next time I think I will try baking it on aluminum foil placed on the cookie sheet so I can fold up the foil to form a little rim around it. I noticed that the butter in the crust ran a little and spilled off the side of the sheet or bake them in a jelly roll pan that already has an edge.)
5. Find the center of your crust rectangle, and spread your cherry pie filling in a 3” wide strip, long-wise, right down the center of the rectangle (keep the fruit about an inch away from each end of the ladder). Each ladder will take ½ can of commercial fruit filling. (And yes, I have one of those fancy little pastry wheels but a knife works as well.)
6. Cut the dough, on both sides of the fruit, into equal strips, but be sure you stay about an inch away from the fruit filling. One at a time, pull the strips back over the fruit in a criss-cross fashion (the strips just lay on top of each other, don't crimp). The only part that is crimped is the very first strip (on each end of the ladder), it should be pinched together.
7. Bake the fruit ladder for 30-40 minutes (in a preheated 350 degree oven) or until lightly golden. Run a spatula under the ladder to make sure it is loose, and then slide it off onto a serving plate. Drizzle it with a simple powdered sugar glaze and decorate with slivered almonds or any decoration you like.