The cherry trees are overloaded with fruit this year. It’s quite a surprise given that it was such a long, cold winter. But I’m delighted – I love cherries.

Caitlin made a gorgeous cherry clafoutis for us a few days ago. Clafoutis originated in Limousin, our part of France, sometime in the mid nineteenth century. The name comes from the French verb ‘clafir’ which means ‘to fill’. It’s a dessert consisting of fruit cooked in a sort of thick batter. Pretty much any fruit can be used, but cherry and plum are the most usual. The secret with cherry clafoutis is to leave the cherry stones in when you make the dessert as it adds an almondy flavour and also stops cherry juice from making the batter too soggy. It’s a bit tricky to eat though, with all the stones, but worth the effort. Obviously it’s not something to give to small children like that.

Here is Caiti’s recipe. I really recommend you try this. Absolutely delicious.

200g flour, 120 g sugar, 3 eggs, 75 g melted butter, 250 ml milk, 400 g cherries

Combine flour and sugar. Mix in the eggs, one at a time. Beat well. When the batter is smooth, add the melted butter, then slowly add the milk. Keep beating well so that there aren’t any lumps. Spread the cherries over the base of a bowl and then pour in the batter mix. Bake for half an hour at 200 degrees C.

Happy eating!