Serves: 6-8 - Time:
I’ve thrown everything at this one. Plump British cherries, fluffy cobbler (think sponge crossed with scone) and a topping of crunchy, nutty cinnamon crumble. On the subject of the crumble, the quantities make about double this dish’s requirements but whenever I make crumbles I like to make lots, freeze any left overs and ta-da- there’s an instant topping for a future crumble.
Ingredients
- For the crumble
- 175g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 100g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 80g demerara sugar
- 25g caster sugar
- 70g pistachio nuts, toasted and finely chopped
- For the cherries
- 1.2kg cherries
- 90g caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons cherry jam
- 1 tablespoon kirsch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 teaspoons cornflour
- For the cobbler
- 175g self-raising flour
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 60g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 50g caster sugar
- 150ml buttermilk
- To serve Custard, cream or ice cream
Method
- For the crumble, put the flour and cinnamon in a food processor and add the butter. Blend for a few seconds until there are no large bits of butter visible. Add the two sugar and nuts and blend to mix together. Set aside.
- For the cherries, pit the cherries and place in a saucepan with 100ml water, sugar, jam, kirsch and vanilla extract. Bring to the boil over a moderate heat then cook for about 6-8 minutes until the cherries are softening. Mix the cornflour with 1 tablespoon cold water and stir into the cherries. Continue to cook for 1-2 minutes until the liquid has thickened. Take off the heat and pour into an ovenproof dish.
- Heat the oven to 200˚c, fan oven 180˚c, mark 6. For the cobbler, put the flour and bicarbonate of soda in a mixing bowl-this bit is easier to do by hand to avoid overmixing the batter. Rub in the butter and stir in the sugar. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk. Gently stir the ingredients until the batter just comes together. Dollop the batter over the top of the cherries-you are not looking to completely cover the cherries. Scatter over about 3-4 tablespoons of the crumble. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the cobbler is risen and golden. Serve with custard, cream or ice cream.
