Nectarine & Cherry Clafoutis

Summer is just so magical with its berries. We’ve currently got golden raspberries growing in the garden and the pure delight Molly (and I) get at finding them, gently picking them off and then sharing them. We’ve got strawberries growing in the garden too and while it’s a little early every day we check how many new shoots there are. There we were in the evenings - lying on the grass outside in t-shirts and pants looking up at the deep blue sky guzzling berries. And why not, their taste is getting to it’s most flavoursome so I’m all in favour of berries for supper and not much else.

And then it got cold. So there are all these delicious berries in our kitchen but the evenings had gone back to rainy and those summer days seemed like they would never appear. We were back to having the radiators cranking, layer over layer and even contemplating bringing in wood for the fire. Berries by themselves was not the order for the day so I made this delicious recipe, served warm with lashings of cream it soothed our souls.

I’d also highly recommend this recipe for summer fruit that have started to look rather sad and are ready for their final show!

7 nectarines pitted and sliced

handful of cherries halved and stoned

1 tbsp sugar

some sort of fruit alcohol or kirsch

20g salted butter ( I always use salted for everything!)

2 eggs

3 tbsp sugar

vanilla extract

1 heaped tbsp regular flour

50g whole milk

75g cream (more for serving)

Mix the fruit with 1tbsp sugar and a glug of alcohol and leave to soak for about an hour or two. The longer you do this the better, I left it overnight but it’s not essential. This really adds depth of flavour and will make those fruits even more stand out! Pre-heat your oven to 180C and butter your dish and then sprinkle with sugar. Work the sugar and shake it around the dish.

To make the batter melt the butter and leave to cool slightly. Whisk together the eggs, sugar and a bit of vanilla essence (no more than a teaspoon). Then add the flour - whisking till smooth, then slowly add in the milk, cream and melted butter.

Mix with the fruit - liquid and all- and pour into the buttered dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes. I needed to put tin foil over it after about 15minutes as it was getting too brown so just keep an eye.