French classic that’s ideal to serve after a Sunday lunch, made with a sweetened batter, not unlike Yorkshire pudding, it tastes great served with scoops of vanilla ice cream or a soft spoonful of crème fraiche.
Serves 6
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Standing time: 15-30 minutes
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes
What you need:
- 100 g (4 oz) plain flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 50 g (2 oz) caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Grated rind of ½ orange
- 50 g (2 oz) butter, melted plus extra 15 g (½ oz) to grease the tin
- 300 ml (½ pint) semi skimmed milk
- 300 g (11 oz) British cherries, stalks and stones removed
- Icing sugar, sifted, to decorate
Method:
- Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, add the sugar then the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, orange rind and melted butter, whisk until smooth.
- Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth and frothy.
- Set aside for the batter to rest for 15-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC /350ºF/Gas Mark 4.
- Generously butter a 20 cm (8 inch) diameter by 4 cm (1½ inch) deep round cake tin with a fixed base, add the cherries and heat in the oven for 5 minutes until sizzling hot.
- Quickly pour in the batter then return to the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the pudding puffs around the edges and the centre is just set and cooked like a custard tart.
- Take out of the oven, dust the top generously with sifted icing sugar and serve warm with spoonfuls of crème fraiche or vanilla ice cream.
- The dessert will sink as it cools so don’t be alarmed.
Recipe and photo credit by - Seasonal Berries
