National treasure Maggie Beer has legions of fans for her no-fuss approach to delicious home cooking. Many of her cookbooks have a cult following, along with her range of products and hampers (both are available in this week's sale event).  To celebrate the season, we're sharing a recipe for Cherry Clafoutis, taken from her book, Maggie Beer's Summer Harvest Recipes.  We're pinning it to our Christmas Table board on Pinterest - follow us there for more food ideas.

I prefer not to pit cherries when making a tart such as this, as the stone helps keep the shape and flavour of the fruit intact. Be sure to warn your guests, though, before they tuck in.

Ingredients (serves 6)
500 g fresh dark cherries
1 tablespoon castor sugar
2 tablespoons kirsch

Custard:
2 large eggs
¼ cup (55 g) castor sugar
¼ cup (50 g) plain flour
½ cup (125 ml) crème fraîche or sour cream
½ cup (125 ml) cream
grated rind of 1 lemon
butter, for baking
icing sugar, for dusting

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the cherries in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle the castor sugar and kirsch over them. Bake for 5–6 minutes or until the cherries are cooked but still firm. Set the cherries aside and reserve the cooking juices.

For the custard, beat the eggs in an electric mixer, then add the castor sugar and beat until frothy. Carefully add the flour and combine, then add 1 tablespoon of the reserved cherry cooking juices, the crème fraîche, cream and lemon rind.

Dot a gratin or small baking dish with a little butter (I use a 30 cm oval copper baking dish), then spread half the custard over the base of the dish. Spoon in the cooked cherries to cover the custard, then add the remaining custard. Bake for 25–30 minutes; the top will be golden and the cherries will appear as little mounds in the custard. Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar.



Extract from Maggie Beer's Summer Harvest Recipes by Maggie Beer, photography by Mark Chew, published by Lantern, RRP $29.99.