It’s Cherry Season!
I find it’s sometimes hit and miss with Cherries, you may get a super sweet delicious cherry but then the next are flavourless and watery. However, when they are in season, it’s almost a given that they are going to be amazing! Especially when they are grown in the UK.
Most UK Cherries are grown in the southern county, Kent, but you may also find Cherries in Scotland in September. Make sure to keep an eye on these in the supermarket and your local fruit and veg stalls.
SO WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO USE CHERRIES?
What is so great about cherries, is that they are incredibly versatile. Because they are a firm fruit, cherries are perfect for cooking with. You can make great compotes or jams with them. This means you can make a multitude of pies, tarts, cakes and crumbles. How perfect is that?!
Because of their naturally sweet flavour, I recommend you don’t add loads of sugar to them when cooking. You still want to preserve the wonderfully tart flavour of the fruit.
Cherries are also great fruits to freeze. What I recommend is to cut them in half and remove the stone, then place in a freezable bag and freeze! Make sure to freeze them as fresh as possible to maintain the flavour.
SO WHAT DO I NEED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE?
- Loaf of Sourdough or whichever bread you’d prefer! ( I’d stay away from anything that was strong in flavour like rye as it will overpower the cherries
- Cherries! Try and get your local seasonal fruit. If you can’t find cherries, strawberries and raspberries will work just as well
- Ricotta. If you can’t find ricotta, you can substitute with mascarpone or cream cheese
- Flaked Almonds. Make sure you toast them in the oven for about 5 minutes until they are golden brown
- Honey. This is an optional ingredient. If you love everything sweet then this is for you.
- Caster sugar. you could substitute with maple syrup or honey if you wanted to reduce refined sugar.
Cherry and Ricotta Toast
Ingredients
- 6-8 Slices Sourdough Toasted
- 150 grams Ricotta
- 200 grams Fresh Cherries pitted and chopped in half
- 50 grams Caster Sugar
- 50 grams Flaked Almonds Toasted
- 2-3 tbsp Honey optional
Instructions
- In a pan, place 150g cherries and the 50g sugar. Bring to the boil and continue to cook for 5 mintues until it starts to look jam-like. Once it reaches this, removed from the heat and leave to cool
- Toast your bread according to your preference. Spread a thick layer of ricotta ontop of the the toast. Top with the cherry compote.
- Scatter the remaining fresh cherries on the toast and sprinkle with toasted almond flakes and a drizzle of honey if you want it more sweet!
