Bigarreaux dénoyautés au sirop léger 4/4

These cherries come from Conserves Guintrand, a family business based in Carpentras, in the Vaucluse, since 1898. According to the producer's technical sheet, the variety is Napoléon, a sweet cherry with firm flesh, grown in Provence and the Rhône Valley and canned from early June to early July. The fruit is washed, stemmed, stoned, then covered with a light syrup of 14 to 17° Brix. The pale pink colour comes from the variety and from a colouring, erythrosine (E127), listed on the label.

For baking, the main benefit is the time saved: no stones to remove, and flesh that holds its shape in the oven. The 4/4 can holds 465 g of drained fruit, enough for a large clafoutis, a cherry tart or an upside-down cake. Add them to a Black Forest gâteau, a loaf cake, an ice cream sundae with a dash of kirsch, or spoon them over a panna cotta. The syrup can be reduced in a pan to glaze a dessert or flavour a fruit salad.

Keep the can in the cupboard until the date shown on the lid. Once opened, transfer the fruit to a closed container, keep it in the fridge and eat it within 3 days. Also on the shelves of our shop, 58 rue Tiquetonne, Paris.