Posts Tagged ‘Cherries’

Serves 6

300g plain flour
50g + 100g golden icing sugar
150g butter, chilled and chopped into small cubes
150g egg yolk
2tbsp water
250g good quality white chocolate, chopped roughly
200g ricotta
250g mascarpone
125ml red wine
500g fresh cherries, pitted

Mix the flour, 50g of icing sugar and the chilled butter using a food processor. It should start to look like fine breadcrumbs. At this stage, add the egg yolk and water and mix until the dough begins to come together.

Put the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Shape into a disc, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200C.

Divide the pastry into 6 portions. Roll out one portion between 2 sheets of baking paper to a 4mm thick dish. Using the pastry, line a round 3cm deep tart tin with removable base and trim the excess. Repeat with the other pastry and then prick all the tarts with a fork. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes then bake for 25 minutes until golden.

To make the cherry topping, place the wine and sugar in a saucepan and heat on low for 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, add the cherries and stir for 4 minutes until the syrup thickens. Leave to cool.

For the chocolate layer, melt the white chocolate over a bain-marie. Leave to cool before adding the ricotta and mascarpone. Beat until smooth. Divide the mixture among the pastry cases and chill for 30 minutes.

Plate up the tarts, spooning over the rich cherry mixture, serve and enjoy!

Happy eating!

Succulent, plump, juicy cherries are one of our favourite stone fruits. They have the feel of luxury, from their rich regal colour to their incredible flavour. It’s a wonder then that in 1998, they were thought to be a fruit under threat and in the last 50 years, 90% of our British cherry orchards have been lost. National Cherry Day (16th July) was hence born to get people to grow, cook with and most of all, enjoy, this juicy favourite…as if we needed any persuading!

Thankfully, there is certainly no shortage of cherries at Natoora. We source the finest cherries direct from small producers, including a specialist fruit farm in Kent. Wellbrook Farms cherries are the best English cherries we’ve ever tried… Buy them today – just £3.68/500g

At the moment, you can also enjoy our wonderful French cherries from Moissac, the fruit capital of France… Save 50% when you buy 1kg!

SHOP FOR CHERRIES

Enter your email address here to receive our weekly newsletters:

Make the most of our amazing cherries this season with this delicious rabbit recipe.

2kg Rabbit
1 Onion
1 Shallot
1 Carrot
Olive Oil
1tbsp. Flour
1/2 bottle Red Burgundy
1 Bouquet Garni
1 Crushed Garlic Clove
1 Clove
Salt and Pepper
1kg Black Cherries
250g Sugar
100ml Red Wine Vinegar

Cut the rabbit into pieces and brown with olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish until golden. Remove from the pan. In the same pan brown the finely chopped onion, shallot and carrot. Sprinkle with the flour and stir until golden. Then add the rabbit again. Add the wine and the bouquet garni, the garlic and clove, salt and pepper, cover and cook gently for one hour.

Remove the stalks and stones from the washed cherries, cook them with the sugar and a little water, then remove the cherries with a slotted spoon, leaving the liquid. Lightly caramelize the liquid then add the vinegar, boil and reduce to a syrupy consistency. Roll the cherries in the syrup. Arrange the rabbit in the serving dish, coat with the strained cooking stock and distribute the cherries around the dish.

Cherries are simply superb at the moment, plump juicy and with an amazingly full flavour. Our cherries from Moissac are certainly worth a try. They are not only much much tastier than anything you’ll find in the supermarket, but they are also cheaper! Read on to find out more…

Taste: These amazing cherries are large, purple and shiny. Cherries from Moissac are of the “black” variety, and are beautifully crisp, juicy and fragrant.

Region: These cherries are among the best on the market at the moment. They are grown in Moissac in the Tarn-et-Garonne region of France. This region is famous for the production of some of the most amazing fruit in France, particularly for the Chasselas grapes.

Quality: These cherries have a much richer flavour compared to the supermarket varieties; buying them on a weekly basis you can be sure we only get the best, at their peak. French cherries are at their best now. In July we can look forward to British cherries.

Cost: We always let you know the price per kg so you can easily compare our prices. Our cherries are not only superior in quality but also cheaper than so called “premium varieties” found in the supermarkets:

Natoora “Moissac Cherries“ £7.50/kg
Ocado/Waitrose “Cherries Waitrose“ £7.76/kg

(prices checked on 28/6/2010)