Poor Cherry Crop in 2012 Leads to Lack of Cherry Pastries

Has anyone noticed a lack of cherry-filled pastries and other goodies in their favorite bakeries?

Well, a sign at my neighborhood bakery Wednesday stated there would be no more cherry-filled goodies because of the high price of cherry filling.

I asked a worker about this and she said a bucket of filling soared to $72 in the past couple of weeks.

Luckily, cherry items might be back in the bakery case soon, as this worker said the price of the same bucket of cherry filling this week was down to $37 and the bakery owner placed an order.

Seems the high prices stem from the horrendous cherry crop from parts of the U.S. in 2012. Places like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and of course, New York, all went through the high temperatures in March 2012 and then freezing temperatures in April. Trees started to bud in March with the warmth, but then the buds froze in April.

In Central New York, both tart and sweet cherry growers were hit hard, with many losing nearly all of their crops.

So, if you can't find cherry pastries or if the cost of them goes up a lot, just remember what Mother Nature did to the growers last year.