Cherry Clafoutis
This past week two tiny white peaks surfaced as Victoria’s first baby teeth. Which, as parents know all too well, meant our four month old was dealing with a major lack of sleep and a constant need to chew on something. When the baby doesn’t sleep, mama has little time for anything beyond her day job and keeping the family fed. So my plans for baking were put on pause. But as my Dad says, “this too shall pass”. Finally, this past Sunday provided a little relief for Victoria’s gums as I made my way into the kitchen to bake my first cherry clafoutis (pronounced kla.fou.tis).
What is a clafoutis, you might ask? To be honest, I had no idea up until a few weeks ago when every French food and Parisian lifestyle blogger seemed to feature their own clafoutis aux cerises. Thus, I was “influenced”.
With each picture more mouth watering than the last, how could you not want to make this French dessert? Clafoutis consists of arranging fruit (like cherries) in a buttered dish and then covering it with a batter to bake. It’s generally served warm and dusted with powdered sugar. Although, I think clafoutis is just as delicious pulled out of the fridge the next day and served cold.
The batter tastes somewhat like a crêpe and is the consistency of a firm custard. It’s not overly sweet either, but satisfying at the end of a meal with the fresh baked cherries being the star of the show.
A few things I’ll note about my recipe below:
#1 - I added bourbon to my clafoutis. I do live in Kentucky after all.
#2 - I didn’t remove the cherry pits before baking because I read that they can release an almond flavor when cooked. One might claim I really did this because I don’t have a cherry pitter and wanted to mask laziness under the disguise of “depth of flavor”.
#3 - I read a tip from Smitten Kitchen that she added butter to her clafoutis to prevent the dessert from being “rubbery” or “eggy” . While a traditional clafoutis may not contain butter, I chose Deb Perelman’s unconventional route because I was not smitten with the idea of making a bland, rubbery dessert.
When you’re making a dish you’ve never had before, you’re not quite certain how accurate it turned out. There’s something liberating about that. Because as long as it tastes delicious, does it really matter? Fortunately, I think this clafoutis was spot on in both taste and texture.
This week will be a busy one in this household. We’re making our way to my parents house in a few days! We could all use a change of scenery, and I’m excited to spend time with my family. So for the next few days I’ll be putting my cast iron skillet on the back burner as we get ready for vacation!
My Cherry Clafoutis Recipe:
Ingredients:
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup of sugar
5 tablespoons of butter, plus some for buttering the skillet
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
a few pinches of salt
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons of bourbon
1 cup of milk
2 full cups of cherries w/pits
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Smear a 9” cast iron skillet liberally with butter.
Lay your cherries in a single layer in the skillet.
In a standard blender, add all of the ingredients and blend together until smooth.
Pour the batter over the cherries and bake until the clafoutis is just set - about 30 minutes.
