Cerises griottes lyophylisés 150g

The griotte is a sour cherry with dark red flesh, the one used in Black Forest cake. Here it is freeze-dried and packed by G. Detou in a 150 g bag, and the label states 100% griotte cherries, with no other ingredient. The fruits are round and wrinkled, almost burgundy, with paler flesh where the skin has split. The label does not say whether they are pitted: cut one or two open with a knife before adding them to a batter.

Their sourness balances chocolate desserts. Crushed, the cherries go into a brownie, a dark chocolate loaf cake or cookie dough; ground to a powder, they flavour whipped cream or a mascarpone cream for the layers of a Black Forest cake. Soaked for a quarter of an hour in hot syrup, they soften again and suit a winter clafoutis or a compote served with fromage blanc. In savoury cooking, they finish a red wine sauce for duck breast or roast quail, added off the heat so they keep their shape.

Freeze-dried fruit softens in damp air: reseal the bag, keep it dry and use the cherries before the date shown on the label. You will also find them on the shelves of our shop, 58 rue Tiquetonne, Paris.