Recipes

This recipe for Cherry Financier comes courtesy of Rowley Leigh of Le Cafe Anglais in Notting Hill.

    1 kilo ripe cherries
    250g light brown caster sugar
    2 tbsp kirsch, purely optional
    100g ground almonds
    70g flour
    6 egg whites, whisked
    180g melted unsalted butter

Method

Stone the cherries and place them with 50g of sugar in an ovenproof dish either 20 cm in diameter if round or 20cm by 15cm if rectangular. Sprinkle the almonds with the kirsch if desired. Bake the cherries in a hot oven, mark 7 (220C/ 425F) for five minutes and then cool.

Mix together the almonds, the remainder of the sugar and the flour before stirring in the whisked egg whites and then the melted butter. Pour this mixture over the cooled cherries, make sure the top is level and then return to the oven for 8 minutes before turning it down to mark 4 (180C/ 350F). Cook for a further 10 minutes and then remove.

The financier should be served tepid, preferably twenty minutes to half an hour after cooking. Serve a wedge or slice with a dollop of crème fraiche or a vanilla ice cream.