Clafoutis

Clafoutis

1 h 30 min
Straight from the French kitchen: clafoutis, a moist baked dessert filled with delicious cherries. This easy cherry clafoutis is a sweet and tangy dessert with a moist, custardy centre and crispy, caramelised edges. It has rich, fruity flavours offset by your choice of either cognac or rum. Our clafoutis with cherries looks beautiful when dusted with icing sugar and is wonderful enjoyed with cold, fresh dollops of crème fraiche, yoghurt, or whipped cream.
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Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 190°C regular oven.
  • Pit cherries. Sprinkle a little sugar over them if they are too sour.
  • Mix flour and 100 ml milk well, then mix in all the other ingredients except icing sugar.
  • Grease a springform tin – or put baking paper in if you are not sure it is 100% leak-proof.
  • Pour half of the batter into the tin and pop it into the oven for 12-15 minutes.
  • Take it out of the oven and spread cherries on top before pouring the other half of the batter over the cherries. Pop it back in the oven for 35 minutes. Take it out and let it cool. It may seem soft, but it will set.
  • Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.
Enjoy!
Tips

Pitting cherries might scare some people off from trying out a cherry clafoutis recipe like this, but it does not have to a chore – it is actually quite easy. Start by removing the stem and washing your cherries. Now place a cherry over the opening of a small bottle and use a sturdy straw (for instance, a reusable one made from stainless steel), a decorating tip, a chopstick, or a toothpick to push the pit out of the fruit and into the waiting bottle beneath. This way the cherry pits are neatly collected in the bottle, making it very easy for you to discard them during clean-up.

Tips

The trick can of course be performed without the use of a bottle if you cannot find one you think is size appropriate. The trick is to simply apply pressure at the point where the steam used to be attached to the cherry and push through until the pit is removed. This way of pitting cherries to prepare your cherry clafoutis filling is quick and easy.

Questions about cherry clafoutis

Baking a mouth-watering cherry clafoutis is quite simple with our easy recipe. Read on to learn more about the process of making and baking this delicious dessert.

How to make clafoutis?
Make our easy cherry clafoutis as a delightful dessert or afternoon treat. Start by pitting cherries and making the batter. Prepare a springform pan with baking paper and pour half of the batter into it, baking it for 12-15 minutes, then add cherries and the rest of the batter before baking for an additional 35 minutes. Allow the clafoutis to cool and set before serving it sprinkled with icing sugar and, optionally, your choice of crème fraiche, yogurt, or whipped cream.
Can you make clafoutis in advance?
You can easily make this dessert in advance as it can be served both fresh after cooling, cold from the fridge like you would a flan, or slightly reheated in the oven if you enjoy a warm dessert. This means you can prepare it when you have the time and serve it whenever you feel like it. Stored in the fridge, the dessert will keep for up to 3 days.
Can you freeze clafoutis?
Seeing as the French cherry clafoutis is a quite delicate dessert, it is recommended to eat it fresh rather than freezing it. Its custard-like texture makes it so the clafoutis does not freeze particularly well because the texture changes and may become mushy or grainy. If you do decide to experiment with freezing, it is recommended to only keep the frozen cherry clafoutis in the freezer for up to 7 days. When you want to eat the rest of your creation, let it thaw slowly overnight in the refrigerator. Allow for it to thaw for several hours if you forget to take it out the night before.
How to make clafoutis with frozen cherries?
Making a cherry clafoutis with frozen cherries is also an option if fresh cherries are no longer in season. There is no need to allow time for them to thaw as they will do so in minutes. Simply place the frozen cherries on a paper towel and check to see if there is any hoarfrost on the berries. If there is, run lukewarm water over them and gently dry them off before using them as filling.

Ingredients

Fresh cherries
½ kilo
Flour
100 g
Whole milk
½ litre
Sugar
100 g
Eggs
4
Egg yolks
2
Cognac or rum
2 tbsp
Icing sugar

Cherry clafoutis – a classic dessert pie

The French cuisine is overflowing with wonderful recipes for cakes, pies, and dessert, and this delicious cherry clafoutis recipe is no exception. This classic dessert cherry pie is great to serve after dinner as the big finish to a delicious meal or as the companion to your favourite hot beverage in the afternoon.

Our clafoutis with cherries is both sweet and tart, and the addition of a small amount of alcohol adds a depth to the flavour that makes it even more interesting to dig into. Serve the scrumptious dessert cool and sprinkled with icing sugar. Add some acidity and brightness by serving it with a dollop of crème fraiche or yoghurt to balance its sweetness or go all in on said sweetness and top it off with some cold and airy whipped cream.

French cherry pie with a soft, custardy texture

The clafoutis is often described as a French cherry pie, but it has a much more custard-like consistency than what you would expect from a classic recipe for cherry pie. Though the edges may become wonderfully crispy and caramelised as it is baked, the overall texture is more reminiscent of soft desserts like flan, pudding, or soufflé. In this soft, moist, and almost creamy pie, the baked batter and the soft pieces of cherry nearly seem to melt in your mouth.

Has this delicious description of what makes cherry clafoutis so special made you curious to try out other classic French desserts? Then you should have a look at our wonderful and easy French recipes for crème brûlée or crêpes suzette.

Delight in a tart and sweet cherry clafoutis

With our recipe for cherry clafoutis, you can make a dessert that truly celebrates the delicious cherries. Which type of cherry you choose to use will have a big impact on the flavour profile and nuances of the dessert. Traditionally, a clafoutis is made using black cherries also sometimes called sweet cherries. Using this type of fruit will make for a sweet experience. Using sour cherries, known for their characteristic bright, red colouring, will make for a quite sour cherry pie that is bright and vivid in its flavour.

No matter which type of cherry you decide to go for, you will be in for a delightful dessert that is both sweet and tart – it is simply a question of whether you want to play up the natural sweetness or tartness of the versatile, little fruit.

If you cannot get enough of cherries and want to try your hand at more wonderful desserts or afternoon treats, have a look at our recipe for chocolate cherry cake too.

Experiment with different berries and fruits

Though the French dessert is usually made with delicious, ripe cherries, experimenting with the use of other berries and fruits in a clafoutis is highly recommended as well. This means that you can bake and serve this French classic all year round, using the produce available in your local shops or the summer treats stored in your freezer.

Delicious twists on a clafoutis recipe involves replacing the cherries with berries like blueberry, blackberry, raspberry. Combining a sweet berry like the blueberry with a tarter fruit like rhubarb is also an option. Doing so will balance the berry's natural sweetness if you are afraid your dessert might end up too far on the sweet side. You can, of course, also create your own mix of wonderful fresh or frozen berries to perfectly suit your preferences.

Using apples, pears, or peaches is also an option either on their own or combined with the cherries. This gives a wonderful fruitiness and some more structure to the clafoutis.