CLAFOUTI pronounced as kla-fu-te is a French Country dessert and is very easy to prepare. Since Bing cherries were in season, I couldn’t think of anything other than “Cherry Clafoutis”.
Oh boy working with the cherries was a nightmare; I am talking about pitting it. I don’t know if its just me or is it something common for everyone.The right approach is usually to relieve the cherry from its pit without completely mangling the flesh. I wanted to keep the cherry whole but removing the pit was quite a task. So I took the easier way out. Simply cut it open and removed the pit!!
I was watching an old episode of Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa in which she was baking Pear Clafoutis. She mentioned that clafoutis are like “ pancake batter over fruits” and followed a recipe of her own with flour, eggs and milk. What she said sounded simple and therefore I went about using my readily available pan cake mix. I did add couple of eggs and milk to make the batter. I filled the batter upto the end ie to the rim, and there you go-while baking it began to flow all over the sides. Luckily I had placed the tart pan on a parchment lined baking sheet. Once baked, all the cherries settled in the bottom and looked as though a sponge cake was covering it. It tasted OK but definitely nothing to write home about. So I tried something on my own.
Ceramic pans work the best for this one, I used the one that I picked up at Daiso in SFO. All it requires is six easy ingredients.It took me about ten minutes to put everything together.The most time intensive part was pitting the cherries. Here is how I made it:
CHERRY CLAFOUTIS
Makes two 8” pan
Time – 1 hour(including baking)Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups bing cherries, washed, pitted and cut into half
2 eggs
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoon milk
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon powdered sugarPreheat oven at 350F. Grease a quiche or tart pan. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add eggs and 3/4 cup of sugar; whisk until light and yellow. With the motor running, add in the vanilla extract and milk. Gradually add in the flour. You will end up with a smooth batter.
Toss cherries with a tablespoon sugar and spread it on the greased pan. Slowly pour the batter over the cherries and place it in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Just before serving garnish with powdered sugar. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
Do not over bake it.
The Clafoutis tastes like a cross between custard and a pancake. If you have sweet tooth do add a little more sugar.We loved this dessert,it was delicious.
*updated - My husband remarked that there were too many cherries in the clafoutis. The next time I would reduce it to 1 cup.
Bon Appetit!
