I am a much better cook than I am baker, so I love it when I can make an impressive sounding dessert without needing any serious pastry skills. A cherry clafoutis fits the bill perfectly. It sounds like it takes a lot of effort, and well, it doesn’t. I recently contributed for the Bountiful Baskets Rainier Cherry case and this recipe used my last remaining bit of those delightful little fruits. You could substitute any other cherry (a clafoutis is traditionally made with black cherries) or many other types of fruit. If you use another fruit, the correct name for this dish will be a flognarde, also impressive and kind of funny too.
My best description of a clafoutis is that of a cross between a custard and a cake, with a flan-like flavor and consistency. However you want to describe it, it’s delicious. And, just in case you missed it the first time, it’s easy!
Ingredients
- 2 cups pitted cherries (or equal amount of another fruit) *
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup flour, sifted
- pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
Instructions
- Butter and flour a 9" square baking dish. Stir cherries and slivered almonds together in the bottom of baking dish.
- Mix salt, flour, sugar and eggs and whisk until well blended.
- Add liquid ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour over the cherries in your baking dish.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Don't be alarmed when the clafoutis seems to "fall", it will puff up a lot during baking and will deflate as it cools.
Notes
*A clafoutis is traditionally made using cherries containing their pits. Apparently, the pit gives the custard an almond flavor. I pit my cherries just for ease of eating, although the ease of baking would increase without this step. (Especially, if you're like me and can't find a cherry pitter and end up using a fondue fork.) So, to pit or not to pit, it's up to you.
Marisa F
Marisa F is a VSC in Billings, Montana. She is the proud Mama of two little boys, a consultant for a home party business and a freelance writer. She is on a Bountiful Baskets inspired mission to teach her family to eat healthy, real food.
Yum!! Going to have to give this a try! I just bought a case of the cherries from BB yesterday! Note on the cherry pitter, if you know of anyone that sells Pampered Chef, they have an awesome cherry/olive pitter! I love mine!
I always make Smitten Kitchen’s Cherry Cornmeal Upside Down Cake. Aside from the pitting, that’s easy too!
My family likes to make this with plums, too. Delicious!!