Introducing the first in our new series of recipes, brought to you by some of the best chefs from the Midlands food scene. This month, a classic French dessert with a twist…
Outrageously easy both to make and to ‘test’ far too much of the batter in the cooking process, this should be your go-to pudding for entertaining. Although our version wasn’t quite picture-perfect, the dish nonetheless has a great impressiveness to effort ratio. Plus, everyone loves a ramekin. Ross & Ross use ground almonds in their version of this classic French dessert, which yields an extra textural dimension and a soft, angelic flavour. Use any seasonal fruit that takes your fancy – we used raspberries (£1 for two punnets at the Bullring Markets, by the way).
400g fruit (eg blackberries, raspberries, peaches)
50g ground almonds
2 tbsp plain flour
100g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
250ml double cream
Zest of half a lemon (optional)
Serves 4-6
To make the batter, whizz together all of the ingredients except for the fruit. Place the fruit – chopped if necessary – into four-to-six ramekins (depending on the size of your dishes and how big you want each pudding to be) and pour over the batter. Bake at 190C/375F/gas mark 5 for 10-15 minutes, until set, slightly risen and delicious-looking.
Ross & Ross are Cotswolds-based caterers that can occasionally be spotted crashing Brum’s street food scene but are more frequently found running five-course pop-ups in pubs around the region and putting on seasonal banquets in idyllic surroundings (The Orchard Feast runs from July 24-26, over the fourth weekend of July; tickets £45 adults/£12.50 children). Visit their website for more information.
