White Chocolate and Cherry Clafoutis - Simply Irresistible !

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The poet, Paul Valéry, said that a poem is never finished, only abandoned. I have that same feeling about recipes. From time to time, I can’t resist making just a tiny edit or two to an old favourite, on the hunch that it will make the dish even better.

Simply irresistible

I have revisited the first dish I ever did on Alchemy in the Kitchen - Cherry Clafoutis - and I’ve made a few edits. One was the addition of chunks of good white chocolate - for me, the missing link in the evolution of clafoutis. 

I have also come down firmly on the side of de-stoned cherries for a number of reasons:

●       multiple taste tests don’t reveal the almond flavour that the stones are supposed to impart (a touch of almond extract does it better!)

●       de-stoned cherries leak their juice into the batter and even more juice evaporates, leaving a concentrated cherry flavour

●       there is less risk of a tooth-shattering surprise.

Hungry caterpillar? No, cherry-stoner!

Unfortunately I had to buy the cherries for today’s clafoutis rather than being presented with a strange and marvellous bouquet as before.  

Life is ...

As I needed a decent amount of natural light for the photos, I made the dish this morning. Although I’m not in the habit of having dessert for breakfast, clafoutis is best eaten warm from the oven, so I had no option but to sample it there and then (good excuse eh?) and I have decided it wouldn’t be out of place at a special brunch.

For 4 servings you will need......to preheat the oven to 170°C

A little butter for greasing 4 shallow ramekin dishes

50g ground almonds
25g plain flour

½ teaspoon baking powder
a  pinch of fine table salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
50g runny honey
150mls fresh whole milk
½ teaspoon almond extract

300g ripe fresh cherries, stones removed (I prefer to leave the stalks on for presentation but take them off if you prefer).

75g good quality white chocolate, cut into 1cm chunks

Method

With the butter, lightly rub the inside of the ramekin dishes and set aside.

Measure the ground almonds and flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder and salt. Add the eggs and whisk to a smooth batter. Add the honey (I weigh it directly into the bowl to save on washing up) and whisk until combined. Finally whisk in the milk and almond extract to give a consistency similar to single cream.

Divide the batter evenly between 4 shallow ramekin dishes, making sure not to fill beyond the half-way mark, then divide the cherries and chocolate chunks evenly between the 4 dishes.

One for me, one for the clafoutis, one for me...

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or until risen and golden brown.

Allow to cool slightly before dusting with icing sugar and serving with a jug of pouring cream. Mmmmm-mmmm-mmmmmmmmmm.

Note: Clafoutis sinks slightly as it cools – that’s just its nature

Note: Clafoutis vanishes quickly when cooked - that's just in its nature ...

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Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes with Chocolate Honey Truffle Frosting – get in touch with your dark side!

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I approach cooking from two very different angles:

The instinctive approach: Most of the time I am driven by a not-too-distant hunger/sugar craving and by what is currently available in the fridge/cupboard. In this instance, I think with my tastebuds - a la Accidental Paella – and it usually works out.

The theoretical approach: Sometimes, however, I think the flavours through consciously and carefully before going near the kitchen. I give consideration to the textures. I make sure I have all the ingredients before I start cooking. For example...

... In my head, almond sponge infused with sour cherry liqueur, topped with a swirl of boozy white chocolate ganache and a fat juicy cherry sounds rather good.

Here’s how that looked in my mind’s eye...

I have a vivid imagination... unfortunately the reality was "Meh!"

 My taste-tester’s verdict: “Meh!”

I had to agree. Can you imagine Sandra Dee swigging from a naggin of vodka? – This was the cupcake equivalent. It was trying to be naughty but didn’t quite succeed and certainly wasn’t WTC*.

I needed to get in touch with my dark (chocolate) side. I ditched the liqueur in favour of black cherry conserve in a chocolate sponge mixture. I went for the sharpness of crème fraîche in the truffle frosting, tempered just a hint of honey. They turned out light as a cloud, with sticky cherry bits and you’d sell your grandmother for the truffle frosting.

Taste-tester’s verdict: “Grrmmmwah!” which translates roughly as “Can’t speak. Eating.”

The frosting is best made the day before (so you don’t have to hang about waiting for it to cool)

*Worth The Calories

For 12 large cupcakes you will need...

... to pre-heat the oven to 160°C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake papers

For the chocolate cherry cake batter

150g butter, softened

100g caster sugar
50g dark Muscovado sugar (or any dark brown sugar)
3 eggs, beaten
125g plain flour
40g cocoa powder, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), sifted to remove any lumps
100g good quality cherry conserve (you want chunky bits of fruit)

1                    In a mixing bowl, beat the butter together with the sugars until smoothly blended – 3 to 5 minutes with an electric mixer gets the right texture. Add in the beaten egg in about four lots, mixing well between additions so that the mixture doesn’t curdle. (Don’t fret if it does, it still tastes the same but won’t be quite as light in texture.)

2                    Sprinkle in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda and continue beating just until these dry ingredients are incorporated into the mixture.

3                    Lightly fold in the cherry conserve. You don’t want to incorporate it; you just want it running through the mixture in rich veins of luscious cherry-ness.

4                    Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake papers and transfer to the preheated oven.

5                    Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until risen and evenly golden.

6                    Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Leave to cool completely before adding the frosting.

For the chocolate honey truffle frosting

200g good quality dark chocolate (70% coco solids), broken into pieces

1 tablespoon of honey (I used a honey with a floral note which sang through)

200g crème fraîche

1                    Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl with the honey.

2                    Place the crème fraîche in a saucepan over a medium heat until it is just simmering at the edges.  Immediately pour over the chocolate and leave to sit for about 3 minutes. (This helps the chocolate meld with the cream more easily).  Then stir gently until the chocolate is incorporated into the cream in a smooth shiny mixture. Cover with clingfilm, letting it sit right on the surface of the ganache and refrigerate until needed.

Worth The Calories!

3                    To frost the cupcakes, remove the ganache mixture from the fridge and let it come to room temperature (I’m talking Irish room temperature - roughly 20°C) and whisk with an electric mixer for a minute or two until light and paler in colour. Spread over the surface of the cupcakes with a spatula or get fancy and pipe swirls of the mixture over the surface and top with a fat juicy cherry. Recommended dose: 1, taken with a cup of coffee (or 2, if you’re having a particularly bad day). 

Note: If the mixture looks grainy and oily it has ‘split’. Don’t panic! Simply whisk with an electric mixer and after a minute or two it should come together in a smooth silky mix.

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Che-eh-rrry, Cherry Baby – Cherry Clafoutis and its cousin, Flaugnarde

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Life’s a bowl of cherries… I’ve never really understood that expression. Does it mean life is sweet and juicy but that at some stage you will break your teeth if you forget about the stones in the middle? Let’s concentrate on the sweet and juicy aspect. At the moment, bowls of cherries are in abundance. 2010 is an outstanding year for this gorgeous gorge-able fruit, particularly in La Belle France.

Cherry Clafoutis - just add whipped cream for a taste of heaven!

Last week, I encountered an impressive cherry tree – planted in 1969 or thereabouts, or so the owner told me. He was a total stranger by the way. I just happened to admire his garden as I sauntered past. This tree was about 3 stories high and lush in leaf. Its branches were so laden with ruby fruit that they trailed the ground like weary arms. The owner said that he and his family had picked and picked the glossy beauties but hadn’t made a dent in the bountiful harvest. He offered me a taste and when I sighed with pleasure over a mouthful of the sweet juicy berries, he said “Take some with you.” I declined politely. I had neither bag, nor basket and though I tugged hopefully at my tee-shirt it failed to yield enough surplus fabric to make a temporary pouch. “You don’t need a bag”, the man said. Snap! Snap! Snap! He broke off three branches. That’s how I came to have the most unusual -and weighty - bouquet of cherry boughs. So much better than roses! I ate most of them single-handed.

Life's a bowl of cherries!

That was last week. Back to reality. Cherries here in Ireland can reach an outrageous number of euro per kilo. I’ve discovered Cherry Clafoutis to be a wonderful way of stretching a handful of beautiful berries. Clafoutis takes about 5 minutes to put together, then you can sit back and relax while it is in the oven. The batter shrinks back slightly from the fruit as it cooks, leaving little pockets of concentrated sweetness.

There are two schools of thought on whether to leave the stones in or not:  

Leave them in? - It is traditional to leave the cherry stones in. Not only is it less arduous for the cook, but the stones impart a subtle almond flavour to the dish. Be sure to warn anyone partaking of this delight about the presence of the stones as expensive dental work may outweigh any pleasure gained from eating the dish.

Take them out? - Significantly less danger to teeth, and I find that the cherry juice leaking into the batter from the de-stoned cherries more than makes up for the flavour that might be added by leaving them au naturel.

For 4 servings you will need...

50g ground almonds

25g self-raising flour

50g runny honey

3 eggs

150mls fresh whole milk

300g ripe fresh cherries, stalks removed, stones left in or out as you prefer.

Preheat the oven to 170°C

1          Measure the ground almonds and flour into a mixing bowl. Add in the honey and the eggs and whisk to a smooth batter. Slowly whisk in the milk to give a consistency similar to single cream.

2          Divide the batter evenly between 4 shallow ramekin dishes (lightly buttered)

3          Divide the cherries evenly between the 4 dishes, dotting them around the batter.

4          Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 30 minutes or until risen and golden.

5          Allow to cool slightly before dusting with icing sugar and serving with a scoop of vanilla icecream or a swirl of whipped cream.

6          Issue a warning about the cherry stones if necessary!

Note: Clafoutis sinks slightly as it cools – that’s just its nature

Ingredients to watch out for...

Huile Vierge d’Amandons de Pruneaux is an oil made from the almond-like kernel in the centre of plum stones. The flavour is almond with a hint of cherry and is a taste-sensation drizzled over pancakes. I flavour the above batter with a tablespoon of this oil when making a flaugnarde – which is simply a clafoutis substituting any other berry or fruit for the cherries. Otherwise, a drop of almond essence makes a decent understudy.



More 'Almond' than the almonds themselves!



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