When Bear and I left beautiful Stonehenge, NSW, we continued our road trip up towards Tenterfield.
With our area of Queensland going through a parching drought, it was absolutely delicious to drive through the green countryside and clean, cool air of the Tablelands. And when we saw a sign for fresh cherries, we simply had to pull over.
The turn off took us to the pretty Cherry Dale Orchard.
Run by Paul and Jenny Savins, the Cherry Dale Orchard is a family owned and run business and is a lovely spot for a break on a long drive. (Click here to visit their blog and see more pictures of their farm and family.)
You can admire the lush gardens, currently festooned with all sorts of wondrous blossoms.
Or sit in the shade on a comfy bench with a rather stunning view of the surrounding hills.
The Savins have over twenty varieties of cherries plus numerous varieties of apricots, nectarines, peaches, and plums.
I really enjoyed walking over the grounds, tasting the newest crop of cherries, and stocking up on homemade cherry jam and a big bag of fresh cherries.
We’ve been treasuring our purchases over the last week, serving the jam over buckwheat pancakes topped with homemade cottage cheese and happily devouring a big ol’ pan of Cherry Clafoutis that is gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free yet absolutely scrumptious.
Traditionally Cherry Clafoutis is served warm dusted with powdered sugar, but I prefer it cold, especially on the piping hot summer afternoons we’ve been having.
What is your favorite thing to make with fresh cherries?
Gluten-free Dairy-free Sugar-free Cherry Clafoutis
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Coconut oil or butter
1 can coconut milk (or almond/rice/cashew milk)
3 Tbsp real maple syrup
3 Tbsp cherry brandy
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
6 large eggs
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
3-4 cups fresh cherries, pitted
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 F (205 C).
- Grease 9” by 13” pan with coconut oil or butter.
- Pour all ingredients except cherries into blender and blend 1-2 minutes until foamy.
- Pour batter into greased pan.
- Add cherries and distribute equally throughout batter.
- Bake 30-40 minutes until top is browned and middle is cooked through.
- Serve warm or chilled.
Another wonderful post!
Thank you so much, @lindytaylor:disqus 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂 xo Maybe we can have this next time we get together? 🙂
I love cherries and your clafoutis must have made your tummy sing!
It sure did, @OrgasmicChef:disqus ! 🙂 It is so wonderful finding recipes of old favorites that work just as well with the changes I need in my diet. 🙂 Hooray for healthy food that tastes great! 🙂
Fabulous find along the way, for me, the sour palate that I have adores pickled cherries, they just get better and better. That Cherry Clafoutis looks sensational!
I have never had a pickled cherry, @bc700f7a2dff994b6fd7a151d97f18ce:disqus 🙂 You have me very intrigued now and I’m going to find out how to make them. 🙂
What a beautiful oasis Krista. I remember my moms cherry pies as a child so maybe that is my favourite way with cherries, though cherries jubilee over ice cream is quite nice too and more grown-up:D
Ohhh, I’d completely forgotten about cherries jubilee, @disqus_2LQ5qLN5aY:disqus 🙂 Your mention of them gave me a big smile this morning. 🙂
Such a beautiful find! As the autumn rain is now falling steadily and our skies are that gunboat gray, you probably recall so well, I can tell you your springtime blossoms brightened my morning!
Oh yes, I sure do remember those days, @disqus_WseMqaTPwi:disqus 🙂 Would you believe I’ve actually been craving them lately since we’re in the middle of a drought. I’m so glad that blossoms cheered your gray world. 🙂
Beautiful post Krista which has me craving cherries 🙂 I love fresh cherries best of all 🙂
I love them fresh the best too, @wanderingsheila:disqus 🙂 Especially straight off the tree when they’re still warm from the sun. 🙂
this recipe is amazing and it looks so good and tasty!
Thank you so much, @tandysinclair:disqus 🙂 It is so lovely to know that even with strict diet restrictions, we can eat scrumptiously. 🙂
Wow what a great recipe! Good for you for sharing a recipe that lets the gluten-intolerant and the lactose-intolerant enjoy one of my (and France’s) favorite treats! It looks perfect! And what a lovely location! Truly beautiful and romantic!
I am SO happy it turned out, @71eb07213759ab4e5611e1dd9f1df8a7:disqus 🙂 I am determined to make eating within these guidelines as happy and enjoyable and delicious as possible. 🙂 I’m so glad you like it too. 🙂
Coincidantally… it’s clafoutis! We have a lot of wild cherries in the park near us and I made clafoutis with them one year too 🙂 Wish I lived near a cherry farm…
Oh how lovely, @jeannehorak:disqus 🙂 A “wild cherry tree” makes me think of Anne of Green Gables. 🙂 I was so pleased to find one reasonably close to us. 🙂
Krista, my favourite thing to make with fresh cherries is to pop them into my mouth and eat them… one after the other!
Sigh, I love that too, @lizposmyk:disqus 🙂 We used to have a MASSIVE cherry tree in the woods near our old house, and I loved standing underneath and eating my fill. 🙂
A wonderful post but it made me sad to think I have left the joys of fresh fruit direct from our own land behind in Italy.
Oh that is hard, @LindyLouMac:disqus XO I had to grieve the loss of some of my favorite foods when I moved as well and it IS difficult.
I had no idea there were that many varieties of cherries, and what a gorgeous farm they grow them on!! This recipe looks like a stunner and I’m going to save for our summer when we have fresh cherries. =) We worked on a cherry orchard in NZ and I loved the heaps and heaps of fresh cherries we had. =) XO
So wonderful Krista! This has given me the motivation to go out and pick cherries this year – something I’ve always wanted to try!
This is a beautiful clafoutis, and outstanding given that it is sugar, dairy and gluten-free! Well done, girl! I haven’t seen a gluten-free recipe using coconut flour before – I’m definitely going to see if I can source some to make this!
Love love love cherry clafoutis! And I like your recipe choices… can’t wait to try with the coconut flour, delish!
Oooh – I wish I lived on a cherry farm now! 🙂 Looks like a wonderful place, and cherry clafoutis is one of my favourite summer desserts!