CHERRY & HAZELNUT CLAFOUTIS

Cherry & Hazelnut Clafoutis

Cherries means summer, and when a friend dropped off a container of freshly-picked cherries I knew exactly what I would make with them. This gorgeous dessert cake has a custard-like texture and is barely sweetened with a little local honey. The eggs are from our backyard chooks and the milk from a local farm, plus I used freshly ground hazelnuts from a local grower too, so this is a very 'eat local' kind-a dessert. In fact, 'eat local as much as possible' is my mantra and I look forward to sharing more recipes in the same vein through the seasons.

Servings 8

Ingredients

• approx. 500g ripe cherries
• 4 free-range eggs
• 200 ml full cream milk [dairy-free use coconut milk]
• 2 tablespoons local honey or sweetener of choice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup ground hazelnuts almonds or standard white flour
• a pinch of sea salt
• 50 g butter melted [dairy-free use coconut oil]

Instructions

• Preheat oven 180°C. Generously grease a large tart dish with butter or coconut oil.
• Wash the cherries and dry in a tea towel. You can remove stones at this stage if desired. Arrange them in a single layer in the tart dish.
• In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, honey and vanilla extract. Add the ground hazelnuts, salt and melted butter and mix into a smooth batter. Pour batter over the cherries.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until just set, the middle can be a little wobbly. Leave to cool a little before serving, or serve cold. Will keep in the fridge for several days.

I still clearly remember the day we visited our house before it became our home. We had only just started looking for a house to purchase and this was the first (and last) we looked at. There are numerous reasons why we fell in love with the place, the large garden speckled with heirloom fruit trees, the outlook onto native bush, the bubbling brook at the bottom of the garden. We loved the quirkiness of the house, and there was this large shady tree growing right through the deck outside the kitchen window. Which, much to my delight, I learned was a magnolia.

The magnolia has become an integral part of our home. It is the first thing we see when we open our bedroom curtains in the morning. It fills our view out of the kitchen window. And most wonderfully it dictates the seasons. Summer is dense foliage that provides us with shade during the hotter months; in autumn the leaves turn orange and fall to be collected for garden mulch; then winter the limbs are completely bare letting through the much-needed light; and then it is spring, my favourite magnolia month, when its gorgeous pink flowers brighten up the day, while the little green shoots grow before our eyes. And before we know it is summer again, and so the cycle of the seasons continues. Quite surprisingly it flowers again in the height of summer, hence the photos here in full bloom!

So that is the story of the magnolia in our life, and therefore why I decided to use it in my new logo design. It was designed by my sister Ana, who also designed my 2015 Calendar. The botanical illustration of the magnolia flower is from Flora Conspicua published in 1826 [!].

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