Cherry Clafoutis
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; 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.
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the pan:
- 10g unsalted butter, soft.
- 25g – 30g caster sugar
Fruit and batter:
- 400g fresh cherries. Pick the best quality you can find. Raymond Blanc recommends Montmorency or Morello cherries.
- 20g unsalted butter
- 2 medium eggs. I use medium sized eggs, roughly 50g – 55g.
- 45g caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 20g plain/all-purpose flour. or replace with a gluten free alternative
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
- 75g milk.
- 75g double/heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons Amaretto or Kirsch. (optional)
Instructions
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Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
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Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. (fan 160°C) You will need a 25cm/10in oven proof, round cooking pan/dish. I use a cast iron frying pan.
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First, prepare the pan – rub the cooking pan with the butter and then sprinkle over the sugar, making sure you have even coverage.
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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.
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Now, make the clafoutis batter – heat the butter in a small pan until it browns to a hazelnut colour. Set aside. (See Recipe Notes.)
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Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick and creamy.
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Whisk the flour and salt into the egg mixture and add the milk, cream, beurre noisette/brown butter and kirsch/amaretto, if using.
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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.
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Cook in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 35 – 40 minutes, or until cooked and the centre is slightly risen.
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Remove from the oven and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.
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Serve lightly sprinkled with sieved icing sugar – delicious with Chantilly or fresh cream, or ice cream, or both!
Recipe Notes
Equipment:
- kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- cherry stoner or knife and small spoon, such as an ⅛ teaspoon measuring spoon
- mixing bowl
- saucepan
- 25cm/10in round cooking pan/dish
Brown Butter:
For more information about brown butter, see here.
Chantilly Cream:
For details on making Chantilly Cream, see here.
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.
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! See here for Blueberry Clafoutis.