Cherry soup with whipped mascarpone & caramelised almonds

Plump, glossy cherries poached in Prosecco, topped with crunchy almond brittle and creamy mascarpone makes for the perfect summer dessert

Prep:15 mins
Cook:10 mins
plus cooling

Serves 4
Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 624
fat 35g
saturates 17g
carbs 59g
sugars 58g
fibre 2g
protein 8g
salt 0.1g

Ingredients

100ml red wine
100ml Prosecco
75g golden caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 thyme sprig
2 vanilla pods, split and seeds scraped out
600g cherries, pitted and cut in half
50g golden caster sugar
75g blanched roasted almonds
100ml double cream
100g mascarpone
2 tbsp icing sugar

Tip

Cherries

Look for deep-red, plump, glossy cherries with fresh green stems. Ripe fruit should be firm but have a little give. If you don't have a cherry pitter, put the cherry into a piping nozzle and push a chopstick through the stem end to push the stone out.

Method

To make the poaching liquor, put the wine, Prosecco, sugar, cinnamon, thyme sprig and vanilla pods with seeds in a large saucpan. Bring to a simmer, then drop in the cherries. Simmer for 3 mins, then remove from the heat and leave to cool. Can be prepared 2 days ahead and kept in the fridge.
To make the caramelised nuts, tip the sugar and 25ml water into a saucepan. Heat gently without stirring until the sugar melts, then keep cooking until you have a golden caramel. Add the nuts to the pan, stir until they are coated in caramel, then tip onto a sheet of baking parchment and leave to cool. Once set, break the caramel into pieces.
While the cherries and almonds are cooling, whisk the cream, mascarpone and icing sugar in a bowl to stiff peaks, then set aside. When the soup is cool, remove the vanilla pods, cinnamon stick and thyme sprig, then ladle into dessert bowls. Top with a large spoon of mascarpone and caramelised nuts.