Cherry Clafoutis

Cherry Clafoutis is one of those dishes that can be made ahead and served cold with a lashing of softly whipped cream for a classic dessert with loved ones or it can be baked up late one evening and popped into the fridge for an easy and fruity breakfast.

Cherry Clafoutis History

The origins of Cherry Clafoutis comes from the Limousin region of France and purists of this dish say that it is supposed to be traditionally baked with the cherries whole which allows the pits of the cherries give a depth of flavor to the dish (thanks to the same active compound found in almond extract).

Ingredients and substitutions for Cherry Clafoutis

• Milk: Whole milk was used, though if you prefer, a creamy dairy free milk would work, but would likely not have the same results.
• Sugar: Superfine or caster sugar is best here because of how easily it dissolves and ensures our mixture is smooth whilst adding sweetness without adding additional flavors to our custard. Raw sugar or light brown sugar are good substitutes, though the result might be a caramel flavor to the custard.
• Flour: Not much flour is needed here so plain works best to help thicken the custard up as it bakes. You could replace with corn starch, if you want to make this gluten free; or replace with gluten free flour.
• Eggs: As well as adding structure to the clafoutis, the eggs will bind everything together so are essential.
• Cherries: Fresh is best here as frozen would result in a soggy custard, or worse, one that doesn’t set during baking.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Cherry Clafoutis:

Step 1: Blend: Blend everything (except the cherries and half the sugar) until smooth.

Step 2: The bottom crust: Pour just enough of the custard to cover the base of your baking dish and bake until lightly golden.

Step 3: Cherry time: Spoon the cherries over the base and sprinkle over the remaining sugar.

Step 4: Fruit + custard: Pour the remaining custard over and bake until golden brown.

Step 5: Serve: Allow to cool, spoon into serving bowls and enjoy!

More Cherry dishes you'll enjoy

Cherry Cheesecake

White Chocolate Cherry Semifreddo

Chocolate Pavlova

Cherry Clafoutis

Sylvie Taylor

This Cherry Clafoutis recipe is a dessert that is the easiest French baking you could give a go with the oven doing the hard work and resulting in a fresh and fruity custard dessert that is perfect to serve on it's own or with a dollop of custard on the side.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Servings 8

Calories 177 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 310 milliliters / 1 ¼ cups milk
• 125 grams / ⅔ cup superfine/caster sugar
• 140 grams / 3 medium eggs room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon sea or kosher salt
• 80 grams / ½ cup plain flour
• 420 grams / 3 cups cherries whole, pitted or halved

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350F.
• Place the milk, ⅓ cup of the sugar, eggs, extract, salt and flour into a blender and whisk for approximately 1 minute until combined and bubbly.
• Pour into the baking dish, just enough to cover the base and place in the oven for approximately 5 minutes or until a thin crust has formed.
• Remove from the oven and add the cherries. Shake lightly to even them out and sprinkle the remaining sugar over evenly.
• Pour in the remaining custard mixture and return to the oven for approximately 50 minutes or until golden on top.
• Remove and allow to cool slightly.
• Spoon into serving dishes either warm or cold.

Video

Notes

• If you don't have a blender: An electric mixer or even a hand whisk would make this batter just as easily, however, you might need to whisk slightly longer to remove the lumps which the blender cuts through quickly.
• Pitted versus whole cherries: There are two options to make a traditional Cherry Clafoutis and it seems there are many opinions about which is better here, having made both versions, the pitted cherries make this more enjoyable to eat and overall the flavor is much the same.
• Other fruits: The aforementioned replacement of raspberries in this dish for the more traditional cherries or apricots, blackberries or even strawberries could be subbed here, though you'll want the apricots to be sliced to a cherry or raspberry size so they truly bake up nice and soft.
• Serve warm...or cold: Though it is recommended to serve this warm as is, I find making ahead and keeping in the refrigerator as kind of a summer breakfast is a great way to eat clafoutis, in fact, I prefer it chilled.
• Baking dish: The baking dish used here is 24.5x17 cm / 9.5x6.5 inches which is small to medium sized.

Adapted from Julia Child via Bite from the Past

Nutrition

Calories: 177kcal

Keyword custard, stone fruit, summerdessert

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