Clafoutis aux Cerises

dark cherries baked into a thick, sweet, flan-like batter until set and golden, the rustic cherry pudding of the Limousin, traditionally made with the stones left in for their almond fragrance

Origin: France

From the journey of Cherry.

The clafoutis is the most famous cherry dish of France, and it belongs to the Limousin, the green orchard country of the centre, where the dark summer cherries are baked into a thick, sweet batter that sets somewhere between a pancake, a custard, and a cake. It is the simplest of puddings: ripe black cherries strewn in a buttered dish, a smooth batter of eggs, milk, sugar, and a little flour poured over, and the whole baked until puffed, set, and golden, then dusted with sugar and eaten warm. The Limousin holds two articles of faith about it. The first is that the cherries must be left unstoned, for the kernels release a faint, bitter-almond fragrance into the batter as it bakes that is part of the dish's character (diners simply eat around the stones). The second is that a clafoutis made with any fruit other than cherries is not a clafoutis at all but a flaugnarde. Homely, quick, and beloved, the cherry clafoutis is the taste of the French early summer, and one of the dishes through which French country cooking has charmed the whole world.

Ingredients

The Cherries

  • 500 g dark sweet cherries, preferably unstoned (see note)

The Batter

  • 3 eggs
  • 100 g sugar, plus extra for dusting
  • 70 g plain flour
  • 300 ml whole milk
  • 1 tbsp kirsch (optional)
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 20 g butter, for the dish

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Generously butter a shallow baking dish and scatter the cherries over the base in a single layer.
  2. Whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale, then whisk in the flour and salt, followed by the milk and the kirsch, if using, to make a smooth, thin batter like single cream.
  3. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes, then pour it gently over the cherries.
  4. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until puffed, set, and golden brown, with only the faintest wobble at the centre.
  5. Dust with sugar and serve warm or at room temperature, from the dish.

Notes

Tradition leaves the cherry stones in for their almond fragrance, and warns diners accordingly; stone them if you prefer, and add a drop of almond extract to echo the lost perfume. Made with any other fruit (plums, apricots, berries) the dish is properly a flaugnarde, not a clafoutis. The batter should be thin and the bake gentle, for a tender, custardy result.

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