Photography by Clay McLachlan

• 1 lb. black cherries
  

• ½ cup sugar, divided
  

• 1¹/₃ cups cake flour
  

• 1 teaspoon fine salt
  

• 3 eggs, beaten
  

• 1¼ cups full cream milk
  

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  

• 1 vanilla bean, slit, seeds scraped out
  

• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
  

Instructions:

1. Wash the cherries and remove the stalks. Sprinkle them with half of the sugar and leave to rest for 30–40 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and the remaining sugar. Add the salt and energetically whisk in the beaten eggs so that there are no lumps. Stir in the melted butter and the vanilla seeds.
4. Place the cherries (leave the pits in) in a cake mold or silicone flan mold. Fill it with the batter.
5. Bake for 40–45 minutes. Test for doneness: it should be very soft, and when you insert the tip of a knife some steam will rise.
6. Dust with the confectioners’ sugar as soon as you remove it from the oven and serve hot or warm.