Cherry bread pudding (visneli ekmek tatlisi)

This is a Turkish bread pudding made from sourdough and sour morello cherries. This variety of cherry, characterised by its very dark skin and juicy flesh, is a favourite among the Turkish community.

Credit: Anson Smart

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• butter, to grease and spread
• 680 g jar morello cherries
• 75 g (⅓ cup) caster sugar
• 40 g (¼ cup) icing sugar mixture
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 6 2 cm-thick slices day-old sourdough bread
• sour cream or crème fraîche, and roasted flaked almonds, to serve

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200°C and grease a large roasting pan. Strain cherries through a sieve set over a small saucepan to collect juices. Add caster sugar to juices and bring to the boil over medium heat. Whisk in icing sugar mixture and cook for 6 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add cherries and lemon juice, and stir until combined. Set aside.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Spread both sides of bread with butter, then cook, in batches, for 2 minutes each side or until golden.

Place toasts in a single layer in roasting pan. Spoon over most of the cherry syrup, reserving a little to serve, then spoon over cherries. Bake for 15 minutes or until bread is well soaked and heated through.

Divide cherry bread pudding among plates, spoon over sour cream, scatter over roasted almonds and drizzle with remaining cherry syrup to serve.

Photography by Anson Smart.

As seen in Feast magazine, Sept 2011, Issue 1.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.