1. Wash, dry, and pit the cherries for the compote. Place them in a small saucepan together with the brown sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract (optional). Heat up and let the cherries simmer over medium heat until they soften slightly – make sure they do not fall apart. Stir the cornstarch into the cherry juice (or water) until completely dissolved, then add this mixture to the saucepan and stir it in. Let everything simmer while stirring constantly until the compote has thickened nicely. It may look like a soup at first but will quickly thicken up. Remove the compote from the heat and let it cool down.

2. Separate the egg for the Grießflammeri – set the yolk aside and beat the egg white with the sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside as well.

3. Add the milk, orange blossom water, ground cinnamon, and salt to a saucepan and heat up while stirring constantly. As soon as the milk starts to boil, add the semolina and stir it in. Let the mixture bubble and thicken over medium heat. Remove from the heat and let the semolina mixture cool briefly, then stir in the egg yolk. After that, gently fold in the stiff egg white in several batches. Spoon the semolina mixture into dessert glasses and let it cool down completely.

4. If desired, toast a few sliced almonds in a dry pan (without fat) before serving. Spoon the cherry compote on top of the Grießflammeri, sprinkle everything with some toasted almonds (optional), and serve.