Cherry Clafoutis

 

 

 

I have a major sweet tooth and am constantly looking to try out new recipes. So, over the weekend I stumbled on some beautiful, deep reddish black cherries on a regular grocery trip and bought them to make these lovely ‘Cherry Clafoutis’ which I have been wanting to make for a while now.

 

‘Clafoutis’ is native to French cuisine and is basically a dessert made traditionally using whole cherries baked in a custardy like runny batter. I never had them before, so I really liked the anticipation of wondering about it’s taste and texture until it came onto my taste buds. The texture was spongy like in a sponge cake; the taste was a hint of sweetness that comes mainly from the cherries and the aroma was obviously dominated by the cherries. I dusted it with some powdered sugar and topped it with a simple ‘Cherry Compote’. All in all it came out really well and reminded me of a fruit cake!

 

 

 

Though traditionally, whole cherries are used, I pitted the cherries to remove the seeds as I think desserts should be effortlessly enjoyed!

 

Prep Time: 15 mins (to pit the cherries) + 10 mins (to make the custard/batter)

Cook Time: 35 to 40 mins

Serves: 4

Source: Adapted from Julia Child’s Recipe on Food.com

 

Recipe

 

For the Clafoutis,

– Cherries (Pitted) – 1n1/4th cup
– Milk – 1n1/4th cup (I used non-fat)
– All-purpose flour – 3/4th cup
– Eggs – 2 whole
– Sugar – 3/4th cup – 1/2 for the batter + 1/4th powdered for topping
– Salt – 1/2 tsp
– Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp

 

For the Compote,

– Cherries (Pitted) – 1/4 cup
– Sugar – 1 Tablespoon

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.

2. Wash the cherries to get off any dirt. Pit the cherries and set aside. (You could also use a cherry pitter if you have one. I simply chopped the cherry, removed the seed and cut the cherry to get smaller pieces.)

3. In a blender, take flour, sugar, milk, salt, vanilla extract and then beat the eggs into it. Blend well for a couple of mins. The batter will be watery like custard and it is supposed to be so.

4. Ready your skillet or pan or ramekins (which is what I used) on a baking sheet. Grease them with butter or cokking spray and then dust with some flour.

5. Pour the batter into the ramekins upto 1/2 to 1 inch less than the rim. Add the desired amount of chopped cherries into the batter.

6. Place them in the oven and let cook for at-least 35 to 40 mins. Use a fork or a toothpick to check if it comes out clean. Else leave in the oven for a further 5 mins. Remove from the oven and let it cool for about 10 mins.

 

 

 

To make the Cherry Compote, simply heat up a sauce pan, add the pitted and chopped cherries. Keep on low-medium heat. Add sugar and saute for a couple of mins until the sugar is dissolved in the juices released by the cherries. Remove from heat and blend this mixture to get a nice thick sauce.

 

 

 

Serve them in the bowls itself or pop them out onto a dessert plate. I dusted them with powdered sugar and topped off with cherry compote. It tasted delicious!

 

 

 

I might make more of these with apples, plums or peaches in future!

 

Note:

– The Clafoutis will rise a lot! But, when cooled down, they are back down. (I didn’t know this and was terrified that I went wrong at some point in the recipe :)).