Placek-with sour cherries & meringue

The base of this placek  (flat cake) is made with  a recipe similar to  Ciasto kruche 2 – with cooked egg yolks found in a previous post  – Pastry – ciasto kruche & półkruche.

The base is baked, apricot jam and bottled sour cherries are placed on top, this is topped with meringue and cooked again.

A few stages but well worth the effort. It is delicious with a lovely balance of  sweetness against the sour cherries.

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour
• 200g butter – chilled
• 100g  & 150g icing sugar
• 3 eggs separated
• pinch or two of salt
• Fine grated rind of 1 lemon – optional
• 250ml of apricot jam – approx
• 1/2 – 3/4 of a jar of morello/sour cherries

Method

Cook the egg yolks

• Separate the raw yolks from the whites.
• Place the yolks  in a colander and cook over hot water.
• Use a fork to break up the yolks into very small pieces.
• Leave to go cold.

Make the base

• Add a pinch of salt to the flour.
• Use a knife to cut the chilled butter into small pieces into the flour and then use your fingers to make the mixture like breadcrumbs.
• Add the 100g of icing sugar and mix this together.
• Add the broken up yolks and gently mix this in then and bring it all together into a dough – try and handle the pastry as little as possible.
• Form the dough into a rough rectangle.
• Wrap the dough in greaseproof paper and chill it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
• Pre-heat the oven to GM 7 – 220°C.
• Grease and line a 33 x 23 cm baking tin.
• Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough a little
• Press the dough into the tin – filling it up the all the sides.
• Prick the surface with a fork.
• Bake for 20 – 25 minutes till golden.
• Leave to cool.

Toppings and meringue

• Lower the oven to GM 1 -140°C
• Place the whites into a grease free bowl.
• Whisk till stiff.
• Add the 150g of icing sugar and whisk again till stiff.
• Spread the jam thickly over the base
• Drain the sour cherries and pat them dry.
• Arrange the cherries over the jam.
• Spread the meringue over the cherries taking it up to the edges.
• Put back into the low heat oven for 45 to 60 minutes.

Cut the cake into squares when cool to serve.

Served here on Duchess  – Bramble Rose tea plates from the 1960s.