(Serves 4-6)

The perfect dessert for August, to make the most of the cherries before they disappear for another year. Use apricots, peaches or blueberries if you’d prefer, all work well. Feel free to leave the stones in the cherries, some say this adds to the flavour.

Heat oven to 180C, stone 500g cherries and butter a 20-22cm dish. Add 2 tbsp demerara sugar to the dish and swivel around so it coats, sticking to the butter. Put the cherries in the dish (they should snugly cover the base in 1 layer). Beat together 80g golden caster sugar with 2 large eggs then add 90g plain flour and the grated zest of 1 lemon. Whisk in 150ml of milk with 30g of melted butter and 1 tsp of almond extract. Pour the batter over the cherries and bake for 30 minutes, until puffed and golden. Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar and cream or ice cream.

*Tip – Soak the cherries in kirsch before using for an opulent twist.