Cheese and Cherry Combo

This is a simple dessert using fresh cheese and seasonal fruit. I am lucky in that I can get the most delicious fresh cheese, called fromage blanc battu ('whipped white cheese'). It is creamy but not rich, with a gentle tang that pairs well with fruit. If you can't get it then I suggest substituting a nice creamy natural yoghurt.

Sweet Burlat cherries freshly picked in our orchard.

Ingredients
200 g fresh cherries, stoned
2 tbsp kirsch
300 g fresh cheese or natural yoghurt
2 tbsp sugar
Finely grated zest and juice of a lime

Method

1. Macerate three quarters of the cherries in the kirsch for at least an hour, crushing them a bit.
2. Combine the cheese, sugar and lime zest and juice.
3. Put alternating layers of fruit and cheese into 4 glasses, top with the remaining cherries and chill.
4. Serves 4.

You could use alternative combinations of fruit and alcohol, for example, raspberries and Framboise or blueberries and vodka.

The fromage blanc battu is from a local dairy, who call at the house twice a week. The cherries were from our orchard.   

Another delicious cheese and cherry combo is aged Basque brebis (sheeps milk cheese) with black cherry jam, the way they serve it in the Basque country.

Yum

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