Preheat the oven to 180°C (400°F).

Place the pitted cherries, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon into a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 10-15 minutes. In a small bowl or jug, whisk together the water and cornflour. While the mixture is boiling, add it in and stir to thoroughly combine. The mixture should start to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the Cointreau or liqueur.

Cool the cherry mixture slightly before pouring into an oven-proof baking dish.

While the filling cools, make the the buttermilk pastry. Process the self-raising flour, butter, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add buttermilk and process until mixture forms a dough. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth.

Roll out to 5mm thick and cut out 5cm rounds with a pastry cutter. Arrange over cherry filling, overlapping circles slightly. Brush tops with a little extra buttermilk and scatter raw sugar over pastry.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cherries are bubbling and pastry is golden and risen. Serve hot, dusted with icing sugar and topped with ice cream.