Sour cherry clafoutis

"This is a recipe I've been making since my mid-twenties. It's so simple that even the most amateur cook will be able to achieve a brilliant result. To anyone out there hoping to impress a romantic prospect, this dessert is your wingman! No delicate creaming or folding required. Bar macerating the cherries in liquor, and deliberately having to burn some butter, it's an unceremonious affair of dumping all the ingredients in a bowl, mixing, pouring and baking. I promise you, nothing can go wrong or my name is Frank!" Poh Ling Yeow, Poh & Co.

• serves

  5

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 g drained Morello cherries
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 tbsp Frangelico or kirsch
• 10 g unsalted butter, melted, for greasing
• ¼ cup (55 g) caster sugar, plus ⅓ cup (80 g), for sprinkling
• ice-cream or crème Chantilly, to serve (see Note)

Batter

• 80 g unsalted butter
• ⅔ cup (100 g) plain flour, sifted
• Pinch of salt
• 3-4 large eggs
• ½ cup (115 g) caster sugar and extra for crust
• Zest of 1 lemon or orange
• 1 tsp natural vanilla extract
• 150 ml milk
• 150 ml cream

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180ºC or 170ºC fan-forced.

Combine the cherries, sugar and liqueur of choice in a small bowl and allow to macerate for 10 minutes.

Using a pastry brush, grease the baking dish with butter, brushing all the way up the sides, taking care not to miss any spots. Spoon the caster sugar into the dish and shake so the granules thoroughly coat the butter. Set aside.

To make the batter, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter turns brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the remaining batter ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add the burnt butter, cherries and any resulting syrup, then stir with a wooden spoon and tip the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle a liberal amount of caster sugar evenly over the surface of the batter and bake for 30 -35 minutes or until the top of the clafoutis forms a lovely golden crust. Serve with hot crème Chantilly.

Note

• Crème Chantilly is simply cream whisked or stirred with 10 per cent of the cream’s weight in icing sugar and a dash of vanilla extract. It’s a great for balancing out intense flavours and providing moisture.

This recipe is from Poh & Co. Airs 8pm Thursdays on SBS ONE.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.