Travel to France with this easy summer dessert
When cherries are at their peak flavor and lowest prices in summer, I always crave cherry clafoutis. It is a humble but delicious French dessert with cherry and almond flavor–a great combination–held together by a custard. A simple custard. No egg-tempering or gentle constant stirring involved. This easy French desert will transport you.
If I’d timed this right, it could have been served for Bastille Day, le 14 juillet, earlier this week, but it was too hot to turn on the oven.
Yesterday was also too hot for the oven, but cherries don’t last forever.
I’ve used several different recipes for clafoutis. You can take a look at them here.
Prepping the Cherries
Recipes call for cherries by weight. Use this as a ballpark for shopping. Then, use the baking dish to determine how many cherries you will need. You want them almost touching each other in the baking dish.
I’m using these vintage Pyrex baking dishes and making two batches. One for us. One to share. Little incremental effort to make two and since I’m turning the kitchen into an inferno anyway, I’m happy to share this deliciousness, but I better get that pie plate back.
Wash the cherries and let them drain in a colander. Ideally, they should be dry before you bake them.
Now for the fun part: Pitting the cherries
The first time I made clafoutis, I tried using a knife to pit the cherries. The pits did not emerge cleanly and the cherries looked kind of mangled.
Internet to the rescue? Not this time.
I tried this hack using a straw. Despite multiple proclamations from fans, it did not work for me. The cherries were a different kind of mangled vs. the knife method and it was slower-going. Perhaps a reusable steel straw would be more effective?
I forged ahead through the bowl full of cherries and made quite a mess of them, but after tasting the unpretty clafoutis, I decided it deserved a regular seasonal place in the recipe rotation. Delicious!
I also decided that I deserved to pit cherries without aggravation. So, with all due respect to Alton Brown, this unitasker has found a place in my kitchen drawer. (It also pits olives so technically, it has two purposes, but I’ve never used it for olives.)
With your weapon of choice ready, it is time to begin. First, assuming you are wearing a garment you care about, don an apron, if you have one.
For further splash protection, do the pitting in the sink; cherries are juicy that’s why this is going to be delicious. Three bowls: one with the washed cherries, one to catch the pits, and one for your ready-to-go-pitted-cherries.
Do this job well. An unexpected pit can lead to a dental emergency. Teeth are more important than dessert.
Once the cherries are ready, you are on the home stretch.
The batter: the easy part
Clafoutis batter is basically a custard (sounds intimidating) or eggy pancake batter (more approachable) sort of like a Dutch Baby or German Apple Pancake. If those references mean nothing to you, don’t worry, there’s no prerequisite for making this dish. You can do this.
Whisk the eggs, then stir in the wet ingredients.
My whisk of choice: A French whisk. Good for smaller quantities. If I didn’t have one, I’d use a fork for these eggs.
The last step is to stir in the dry ingredients. My flour was especially lumpy. After I’d added it to the bowl, I wished I’d sifted it, but again, this is a pancake batter so some lumps are ok.
Once the batter is ready, pour it over the cherries in the baking dishes. Top with almonds.
Keep an eye on it while it is baking. A functioning oven light will be very useful for this purpose. (Siri- add reminder to find out how to replace the oven lightbulb.) I substituted a flashlight. Opening the oven door for a peek is never good for baked goods.
The edges will start to puff and puff, but wait with a watchful eye. You want the center nice and solid. Once the center starts to look less translucent, check with a toothpick (it is ok to open the oven door towards the end of cooking time).
Cool before eating. The Clafoutis will depuff while cooling. It is best eaten slightly warm or at room temperature.
Store this in the refrigerator. If you take it out before dinner, it should be perfect by dessert time.
Notes
- Clafoutis–Say it out loud!– and don’t forget to forget the “s” 🙂
- More French pastry pronunciations.
- Yes, you can use almond flour. You will get a denser result.
- Almond topping is non-traditional and optional, but I recommend it. Slivered is best because of the oven time and extra crunch. I only had sliced almonds. They are fine.
- And for my friend who thinks that you can make clafoutis with plums, non non non. That’s flaugnarde.
Cherry Clafoutis Recipes
I like to look at a few recipes before making a new dish. Below are links to versions I recommend.
Music to cook by
Pink Martini – if you don’t know them – check them out. Love their music!
