Cherry & almond sponge with pistachio crème fraîche

Ingredients

• 500 g cherries sweet washed and stoned
• 1 tsp juice of lemon 
• 0.3  orange zest 
• 85 g sugar 
• 1 tbsp pistachios chopped
• 100 ml crème fraîche 
• 2 large eggs 
• 3 tbsp sugar 
• 0.3 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 tsp orange-flower water 
• 75 ml double cream 
• 3 tbsp flour plain

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• oven
• whisk
• sieve
• ceramic pie form

Directions

1. Heat a large frying pan. When hot, add the cherries, lemon juice, orange zest and sugar. Allow the cherries to cook and release their juices for 4-5 mins until they are tender and the juices are syrupy.
2. Transfer the cherries to the base of a 20-22cm diameter ceramic pie dish. At this point, you can chill the dish until half an hour before you want to eat, then finish it.
3. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas
4. To make the topping, put the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat until light and foamy an electric whisk is best for this.
5. Add the extract and orange flower water as you whisk.
6. When the mixture is very light and airy, whisk in the cream. Finally, sieve in the flour and a pinch of salt. Carefully fold them into the egg mixture with a large metal spoon until there are no lumps.
7. Pour the sponge mixture over the cherries and use the back of a spoon to cover evenly.
8. Bake for 20 mins until well risen and evenly browned.
9. While the sponge is baking, stir the chopped pistachios into the crme frache and spoon into a serving dish. When the sponge is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it cool for 10 mins before dusting with icing sugar and serving with the pistachio crme frache.