Cherry Clafoutis

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Cherry season is upon us again and this is one of my favourite desserts. Clafoutis is a classic, timeless, rustic French dessert defined by both its simplicity and melt in the mouth deliciousness. It describes a dish of luscious sweet cherries topped with a thick, lightly sweetened custard type batter, enhanced with nutty brown butter. It is baked in the oven until golden, slightly crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, with the flavours of the fruit bursting through. You can serve it warm or at room temperature, it can be cut into slices, or simply spoon it out like a crumble. Delicious on its own, it also works well with ice cream, fresh pouring cream or Chantilly Cream. Leftovers, served with plain or Greek yoghurt, also make a wonderful breakfast.

Can you use any other fruit?

Typically made with cherries, a range of different soft and stone fruits are frequently used as well, such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, apricots, peaches and plums. Technically, when cherries are not used, it is called a Flaugnarde, but the word ‘clafoutis’ has become stuck in common parlance, in English at least!

How to make Cherry Clafoutis

Where is this recipe from?

This recipe is slightly adapted from Raymond Blanc, of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons fame. The main difference between the recipes is that Raymond macerates the cherries in some sugar and kirsch, for 2 hours, before adding them to the batter. He says that the sugar permeates the fruit and intensifies the flavour. I skip this step because:

• I’m generally not organised enough to remember to macerate well ahead of time!
• good cherries are generally sweet enough, without needing the extra sugar.
• the sugar and kirsch combine to make a red liquid which colours the clafoutis batter. Aesthetically I prefer the a paler batter which contrasts with the cherries

Collect the all the ingredients together:

For the pan:

• unsalted butter, soft. You could also use melted butter.
• caster sugar. You could also use granulated sugar.

Fruit and batter:

• fresh cherries. Pick the best quality you can find. Raymond Blanc recommends Montmorency or Morello cherries. They need to be in season and sweet.
• unsalted butter
• eggs. I use medium sized eggs, roughly 50 – 55g.
• caster sugar. If the cherries are not very sweet, or if you have a really sweet tooth, increase the sugar by 10g – 20g. I don’t think that sweet cherries need the extra sugar though. You could also use granulated sugar but caster sugar is generally preferred for baking. The smaller crystals dissolve better, giving a smoother batter and more consistent results after baking.
• vanilla extract – or you could use vanilla paste. It is always better to use extract rather than essence. Extracts are derived from the natural product, whereas essence may be derived from a synthetic product or a mixture of the two.
• plain/all-purpose flour. If you are looking for a gluten free dessert, you can replace the wheat flour with a gluten free option, or use ground almonds.
• fine salt. Ideally a fine sea salt.
• milk. Full fat milk is best, but I have also used semi-skimmed. I find it easier to weigh the milk into a jug on the scales, rather than measure it in ml.
• double/heavy cream. If you don’t want to eat/can’t eat too much cream, you could replace this with milk instead.
• Amaretto or Kirsch. (optional) If you prefer an alcohol free dessert, simply omit.

How to make this wonderful dessert:

1. First, prepare the pan – rub the cooking pan with the butter and then sprinkle over the sugar, making sure you have even coverage.
2. Secondly, remove the stones from the cherries. If you have a cherry  stoner you will be able to keep the cherries whole. I don’t have one, so I cut the cherries in half to remove the stones. I use my ⅛ teaspoon measuring spoon to scoop them out, which works really well.
3. Now, make the clafoutis batter – heat the butter in a small pan until it browns to a hazelnut colour. Set aside. (See Recipe Notes.)
4. Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick and creamy.
5. Whisk the flour and salt into the egg mixture and add the milk, cream, beurre noisette/brown butter and kirsch/amaretto, if using.
6. Bring it all together – lay the cherries onto the base of the baking dish/pan. If you have halved them, place the rounded side upwards. Pour over the batter.
7. Cook in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 35 – 40 minutes, or until cooked and the centre is slightly risen.
8. Remove from the oven and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.
9. Serve lightly sprinkled with sieved icing sugar – delicious with Chantilly or fresh cream, or ice cream, or both!

Prepare the pan –

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Make the Clafoutis –

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Bring it all together –

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.