Recipes

David Hart, of The Fitzwalter Arms, has taken inspiration from Simon Hopkinson for his English Cherry & Almond pie recipe
 
For the Almond ice cream
   
250g flaked almonds
    500ml full-fat milk
    6 egg yolks
    110g caster sugar

For the Pastry
 
    250g chilled butter, cut into small pieces
    425g self raising flour
    Pinch of salt
    1 egg yolk
    Approximately 50ml iced water

For the Filling

    1.25kg cherries, stoned
    75g caster sugar
    1 tbsp cornflour
    90g ground almonds
    A little milk
 
Method

For the ice cream, toast the almonds in a dry frying pan over a moderate heat. Pour the milk into a medium sized saucepan and tip in the almonds. Bring up to the boil, take immediately off the heat and leave to infuse, covered, for at least one hour.
 
Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a roomy bowl until pale and thick. Bring the infused milk back up to a simmer and strain onto the egg yolk and sugar mixture, discarding the almonds. Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth and pour back into a clean saucepan.
 
Put the saucepan back on to a moderate heat and with a wooden spoon, stir constantly until lightly thickened. Strain the thickened mixture into a jug, pour into an ice cream maker and churn until softly frozen.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
 
To make the pastry, in a food processor or manually, blend together the butter, flour and salt until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Tip into a large, roomy bowl and gently mix in the egg yolk and water with cool hands or a knife, until amalgamated. Wrap in cling film and chill for 20 minutes.
 
Lightly grease the tart tin. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry into a circle, making sure not to make it too thin. Carefully line the tin with this, allowing a slight excess to flop over the rim. Chill this once more, for about 20 minutes. Now mix together the cherries, ground almonds and cornflour with your hands until well coated. Carefully tip into the pastry case and lightly tap down until settled.
 
Brush a little of the milk around the edge of the pastry that lies just above the rim of the tart tin. Roll out the remaining one-third of the pastry to form a lid. Carefully lift onto the pie and, with your fingers, lightly press the two pastry edges together. Using a sharp knife, now cut through the joined edges almost flush up to the rim. Crimp the edge with your fingers or the tines of a fork.
 
Brush the surface with the milk and sprinkle evenly with more caster sugar. Cut a few incisions in the pastry to allow steam to escape. Place on a preheated baking tray and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until all is golden and smelling delicious. Remove and allow to cool in its tin until just warm. Cut into wedges and serve with almond ice cream