With the possible exception of marzipan, which I can never eat enough of one of my all time favourite treats is cherry pie. I love the sharp sweet taste of cherries, and I always think that the strong vibrant red colour makes the pie look even more appetising. But even I would have to admit that perhaps cherry pie is more suited to the winter months and that pastry can be a little heavy for the summer.
However that doesn’t mean I want to lose out on my cherry obsession during the summer and so I went hunting for an alternative and I am more than delighted with what I discovered. This is a French recipe, which is more like a flan, is really easy to make and tastes absolutely divine. The ingredients are easy to obtain, there are even almonds included, which gets another big tick in the box from me. The end product is called clafoutis, so now not only are you getting ideas for recipes we are also teaching you some French as well. Follow the video below and try out this delicious alternative to cherry pie, that might just be a little more suited to the balmy summer we are hopefully going to get.
Ingredients print
Makes about 6-8 servings
20 oz (600 g) fresh sweet cherries, stemmed and pitted
2 tbsp (30 g) butter, melted
4 eggs
1 cup (240 ml) milk
3/4 cup (100g) flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract (or 3 drops of almond essence)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For Dusting
powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease a round 10 inch (26cm) baking dish with butter. Dust with about 2 tbsp of sugar.
Arrange the cherries in a single layer; set aside until you prepare the batter.
Mix eggs with remaining sugar and salt. Stir in flour. Add milk, vanilla extract, almond extract and mix well until well blended. Add melted butter and stir to combine. The result is similar to crepes mixture. Pour the mixture over the cherries.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Cool on a rack for few minutes while it deflates. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Serve warm or chilled.