Plums topped with semolina custard then baked until golden make for a perfect late summer dessert or sweet dinner. Not unlike Clafoutis, this dish is a great way to use seasonal fruit.

(Kirschenschober (cherry variation) below!)

There’s a recipe in Marianne Kaltenbach’s Aus Schweizer Kuchen (in fact there are a slew of recipes for Zwätschgezyt, plum season).

A quick search online will bring you to a few recipes as well, like this one that traces it back to the Zürich Oberland (though it seems to have also been popular in Austria and Bayern). It also clears up the name, explaining that Schober was both a measurement for straw and meant the place where straw, hay and grains were stored. There is also a recipe from the promising, but extremely short-lived student blog Genussgipfel.

Plums can be replaced with any seasonal soft fruits—why not try berries, cherries, apricots or peaches?

800 g - 1 kg Zwetschgen, pitted and halved

80 g butter

80 g sugar

3 eggs, separated

zest of half a lemon

pinch of salt

200 g semolina

125 g plain yogurt or sour cream

200 ml milk

Preheat oven to 200 C / 350 F / gas mark 6.

Grease a large baking form.

Place the plums in the bottom of the form, flesh up.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the yolks, lemon zest and salt.

Stir in the semolina, yogurt or sour cream, and milk.

Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the whites until stiff. Fold into the semolina mixture.

Pour over the plums, spreading to the edges with a spatula.

Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the fruit juices start bubbling through.

• Other seasonal fruits would work well here, like apricots, cherries or peaches. See cherry variation below.

• Semolina is also sold as semolina flour. In Swiss supermarkets this is called Hartweizengriess / Semoule de Blé dur / Semola di Grano Duro.

Kirschenschober

Follow the recipe above, using cherries instead of Zwetschgen.

Replace half the semolina with ground almonds.

Add a couple of drops of almond extract to the batter.

Halfway through baking sprinkle a handful of flaked almonds on top.