CHERRY CLAFOUTIS

from Guillaume Brahimi

There is no better way of celebrating the rich, dark beauty of fresh cherries than in a simple clafoutis – a pastry-less flan studded with fruit that is served hot from the oven, ideally accompanied with the best vanilla ice-cream. Guillaume’s recipe has almond meal in the batter, and his tip is to pour it over the cherries after you’ve put the dishes on the shelf in the oven, so you’re not trying to steady full dishes of runny mixture.

Serves 4

120 g almond meal

30 g cornflour

200 g caster sugar

pinch of sea salt

4 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

2½ tablespoons cream

60 g butter, melted and cooled

28 cherries, pitted

icing sugar to dust

Vanilla Bean Ice-cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Combine the almond meal, cornflour, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well.

Whisk the eggs and egg yolks in a separate bowl. Continue whisking while you add the cream and melted butter. Gradually add the almond mixture, whisking constantly until thoroughly combined.

Lightly butter 4 shallow individual dishes of around 12 cm diameter (alternatively you could use 1 large shallow dish). Divide the cherries evenly between the dishes. Ladle the batter over the cherries, filling to near the top of the dishes. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the batter is no longer sticky when tested with a skewer or knife.

Allow the clafoutis to cool slightly, then dust with icing sugar and serve with scoops of vanilla bean ice-cream.