Rick Stein - Cherry Pithiviers
From Rick Stein’s French Odyssey episode 5. Click on “more” to read the whole recipe.
Cherry Pithiviers
Ingredients
* 2 x 350g packets ready-rolled Puff pastry
* Butter, for greasing
* vanilla ice cream, or pouring cream, to serve
* 125g Butter, softened
* 125g caster sugar
* 1 egg
* 2 egg yolks
* 125g ground almonds
* 15g plain flour
* 2 tbsp kirsch
* 225g fresh Cherries, stones removed
* 1 tsp icing sugar, for glazing
Method
1. Unroll each sheet of puff pastry and cut a 25cm disc from one piece and a 29cm disc from the other, rolling them out a little more if necessary. Rest them in the fridge for 20 minutes.
2. For the almond paste filling, cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and one of the egg yolks, then gently stir in the ground almonds, flour and kirsch. Stir in the pitted cherries.
3. Place the smaller disc of pastry onto a buttered baking sheet and mound the cherry and almond mixture into the centre, taking it to within 2.5cm of the edge. Beat the remaining egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of cold water and brush a little around the edge of the pastry. Lay the second disc over the top of the filling and press the edges together to seal, pressing out any trapped air as you do so. Crimp the edges between your thumb and forefinger to give the edge an attractive finish, then chill the pudding for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Brush the top of the pithiviers with the rest of the egg yolk glaze, then with the tip of a small, sharp knife, score radiating arcs from the centre out towards the edge, just into the surface of the pastry, taking care not to cut too deeply. Make a small hole in the centre to let the steam escape, and bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed up and richly golden. Lower the oven temperature to 180C/gas 4 and continue to bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the centre comes away clean. If it starts to get too brown, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the top.
5. To give the pithiviers its classic glazed appearance, remove it from the oven and increase the temperature once more to 220C/gas 7. Dust the pastry with the icing sugar and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes until the sugar has caramelized and the tart has taken on a high gloss. Transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool slightly, then serve warm, cut into wedges, with vanilla ice cream or pouring cream.