Cherries are wonderfully seasonal, one of the few fruits that are still really only available for a few weeks in high summer 🍒. Running from ruby red to almost midnight black in colour, cherries are a stand-out element in fresh fruit salads, in a sauce with rich meats like duck and in cakes like Black Forest Gateau and the French harvest dish, cherry clafoutis. A clafoutis is a simple one-layered cake with a thick batter that envelops a base of fresh fruits and it’s really easy to assemble with the odd bits you’ve got in the baking cupboards as it uses minimal amounts of everything. Winner! 👍🏻

Image (c) ChefRachida

Cherry Clafoutis 🍒

Serves six

Ingredients

500g fresh cherries, pitted (or not if you don’t mind eating around the stones)
250ml fresh whole milk
60g self-raising flour (4 tbsp)
60g tbsp sugar (4 tbsp)
40g unsalted butter, melted
2 large free-range eggs, mixed
Icing sugar and cream, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (170°C fan, gas mark 4) and grease a shallow casserole dish or tart dish with butter.

2. Pit the cherries and spread them in a single layer across the dish and make your batter.

3. For the batter, sift the flour and sugar into a glass bowl. Make a well and pour in the eggs followed by the milk. Stirring quickly and well, incorporate all the ingredients together. Don’t overmix, just ensure you can’t see any pockets of flour in the mix.

4. Pour evenly over the cherries in the dish and bake in the centre shelf on the oven for 35 – 40 minutes until set. It will be firm to the touch with just a little give, like a thicker set flan.

5. Allow to cool slightly once removed from the oven and dust liberally with icing sugar before serving.

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Good news, you can make this recipe with lots of other fruits! Apples, pears, figs, and – of course – berries! Imagine a raspberry, blueberry and blackberry one?? 😱😍

Got someone coming around for a cuppa on short notice? Bung this in the oven in seconds, lads. Better yet, you can make personal-sized ones in ramekins, like above. Don’t say we don’t look after you! Now, have you signed up to our fresh fruit deliveries yet? We’re got many, many more fruity ideas and recipes up our sleeves! 👍🏻