Cherry Clafouti

I  just love Clafouti, and in particular when it's made with pears. But I happened to have some sour cherries in the freezer, so I thought I'd adapt my go-to recipe. It was tasty and absolutely stunning with the red cherries popping through the custard!

Pineapple Upside Cake

This recipe has that retro feeling that takes you back to childhood. My mother's pineapple upside cake was just the best, with a scrumptious caramelized brown sugar glaze that oozed over the top. Just perfect. This cake is lovely too, but not quite like my mum's!

Butter for greasing the pan

1/4 C brown sugar

7 slices of canned pineapple (in juice)

1/3 to 1/2 C glacé cherries 

2/3 C flour

1 stick (4oz) butter

1/2 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda 

2 Tbsp Malibu rum (optional)

1/2 C pineapple juice (divided)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

Lightly butter a Pyrex baking dish, and then sprinkle with the brown sugar. 

Layer the pineapple rings in the dish and place half a cherry in the middle of each pineapple slice and in between. 

Pulse the flour, butter, sugar, eggs, baking powder and baking soda in a food processor until the mixture is smooth. Then add 1/4 C of the pineapple juice and Malibu rum, and pulse briefly until the liquids are incorporated. 

Gently spoon the mixture over the pineapple rings, and then tap the baking dish on the counter a couple of times, to help the mixture fill the nooks and crannies. 

Bake for 30 minutes, then run a spatula around the outside to loosen the cake. Invert a serving dish or a larger dinner plate over the top, and flip the cake out. 

Carefully pour the remaining pineapple juice over the top to help make the cake nice and moist. 

This cake is particularly tasty served with a generous portion of whipped cream. 

 

Cherry Picking

What a wonderful cherry crop we had this summer. It took quite a while to pick them, and of course it takes time to wash and pit them too. I think I need to bake a cherry pie soon, but in the meantime I can relish the wonderful intense colors of these amazing cherries, glowing from within like rubies on fire, dripping down from every branch. Heavenly.

Sour Cherry Crumble

Last summer I went cherry picking in Shelburne, Massachusetts! Collecting sour cherries is definitely a labor of love, as you have to climb up a ladder to reach the gorgeous fruit at the top of the cherry trees. I cleaned, pitted and froze them, and then forgot all about them until yesterday. Sour cherries certainly do have a fabulous intense flavor—this recipe is definitely a keeper!

 

Fruit filling:
4 to 5 C of pitted sour cherries
1/2 C plus plus 2 tsp sugar (or more to taste)
3 Tbsp tapioca (I used seed pearl, but I think instant would work really well too!)
1/4 C melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp almond extract
pinch salt

Crumble topping:
1 1/4 C flour
1/4 C butter, well chilled, grated
4 TBsp brown sugar
1/4 C sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
To make the fruit filling mix the cherries, sugar, tapioca, butter, lemon juice, almond extract and salt. Mix gently and set aside.
To make the crumble, sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the grated butter. Rub the butter into the flour so that you have a coarse crumble texture. Add the brown and white sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and stir gently.
Pour the fruit filling into a casserole dish and then gently spoon the crumble mixture over the top.
Bake for about 5 minutes at 475 degrees, then lower the heat to 375, and bake for about 40 minutes.
Serve with some nice big dollops of whipped cream. Enjoy!