Cherry Clafoutis

Well well… here I am, 12 days, not a bip…a recipe or a tad of information. My tweeter is mute, facebook friends request blocked by spider webs, foodbuzz buzz lower than expected. I sure could come up with some lame excuse … but I’m not. The truth is I just had a few dreadful “blue” days. It actually happens to me every month, I have tantrums, I think I am ugly, fat, stupid, I cry for no reason, and I feel so angry (no… angry is not the right description) I feel murderous; that I could totally poke annoying people in the eyes. And lets face it Manhattan is full of annoying people. Specially this time of the month, coincidence? I don’t think so. I know right now you probably wish I had come up with a lame excuse, but instead you are reading about my PMS issues. The thing is…my mother suffers from severe depression, when she is taking her medication she is a loving, sweet mother, but for some reason all the time when she is okay, she thinks: That’s it, I’m cured!

I don’t need any more pills, I feel great. Then after a week or so without her pills, she turn into a “pancake” (sorry, but that’s the best way to describe it) She lock herself in her room the whole day, and stays in the dark without talking to anybody. Until my father with his godsend patience convince her to start the pills again. But it can go on for weeks until she finely decides to start to live again. What that has to do with me? Well…. I freak out a bit when I feel “blue” I immediately think about my mother, and to tell you the truth I could never accept the idea of having a baby because of fear of depression. Because I heard many times my father telling family and close friends that my mother started to have depression after she gave birth to me. So I would love to have a baby, but it will not come from my own belly. I know there is plenty of help, and medication for postpartum depression but seriously… I ‘m not risking it. Because just the PMS is a scary thing for me, I’m being totally transformed from a funny, reasonable person to an almost murderous negative one. Thankfully after a week of fighting obnoxious hormones, I always go back to my fun, optimistic self. And I have to give kudos to my lovely husband that learned how to deal with my murderous hormones like a Pro.

Sooooooooooo, you might be asking (if you are still here of course) what about some recipe? It’s a food blog after all. Yes, yes I do have a lovely recipe for you. A sweet one, and I strongly recommend you actually try it, because it is heavenly good. And I have a little advise for you, if you are going to photograph it, prepare your camera and everything to take the picture immediately after you take it out of the oven, because mine was puffy and gorgeous but after few minutes it deflated and looked a bit flopped. Well…it still tasted delicious!!

Cherry Clafoutis

• 2 cups of large pitted black sherry
• 4 tbsp kirsch or rum
• 1/4cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/3cup ground almond
• 3 larges eggs
• 1/3cup caster sugar
• 4 tbsp-melted butter, plus extra for buttering the ramekins
• 275ml double cream
• 1 cup of white chocolate chips
• Icing sugar, for dusting

Place the cherries and kirsch in a bowl and leave to marinate for at least an hour. Meanwhile, prepare the batter: place the flour, ground almond, sugar, eggs, melted butter, and double cream into the food processor. Blitzes well, then transfer to a jug and leave to settle. Preheat the oven 350F place 6 well-buttered ramekins onto a baking sheet. Divide the cherries, white chocolate chips among the ramekins. Pour the juice from the cherries into the batter, mix well and pour this over the cherries and chocolate to just fill the ramekins. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minute or until you have a light brown, well-risen, sponge-like topping. Remove the ramekins from the oven and dust with icing sugar. Enjoy.