Cherry Clafoutis

I had never had a clafoutis before living in France, but once I had my first bite, I couldn't get enough of them.  Perhaps my favorite was one made with golden Mirabelle Plums, which are fabulous little things that are a bit tough to find here, but are found EVERYWHERE in France during their short harvest season which runs from July to mid-September.

While Mirabelles may be my favorite fruit to use in a clafoutis, the dish is traditionally made with cherries, and that is how we prepared this one the other day.  In France, a cherry clafoutis is often made with un-pitted cherries as the pits are rumored to add a certain je ne sais quoi to the dish.  For fear that our kids would see the pits as an invitation to start a cross-table spitting-artillery campaign, I removed the pits from our cherries.  

There's enough violence in our world at the moment, don't you think?

Once you've determined what type of fuit you'll use (almost anything will do, see a Fig and Anise Clafoutis I made here), all you've left to do is whip up a quick, crepe-like batter in which to bake the fruit.  This is a really easy dessert that you can throw together in a heart-beat with readily available pantry items and the fresh fruit of your choice.

In crafting the batter for this dish, I substituted some almond flour for a bit of the all-purpose wheat flour in an effort to make it a bit easier for my wheat-gluten intolerant wife.  The resulting taste and texture was delicious, somewhere between a cake and a custard, with lovely almond notes that paired really well with the cherries.  Give it a try, you'll love it!

Cheers – Steve