One of my favorite things about living in the Columbia River Gorge is the close proximity to delicious local orchards, cherrie in particular. There’s a little town called Mount Hood Parkdale that has what’s known as a “fruit loop”, where you can drive around country roads stopping at a variety of different adorable roadside fruit stands. And one of the first orchard fruits that ripens are the local cherries. So when I saw the “local cherries for sale!” tent pop up in my little town, I immediately pulled over and purchased an obscene amount of fruit to make this almond-y and delicious cherry clafoutis.
What is a Cherry Clafoutis?
You may find yourself asking the above. I’ll tell you! A clafoutis is basically a cross between a baked custard and a pancake. It’s a delicious French dessert that’s super easy and quick to make, and just involves whisking together a batter of eggs, sugar, milk, flour, and flavorings, and then pouring it over a pan of cherries and putting it in the oven. It poofs up as it bakes, but will quickly deflate as soon as it’s taken out of the oven, leaving you with an absolutely heavenly aroma of baked cherries and almonds.
Traditionally, the French don’t pit their cherries for this recipe, since the pits have an almond flavor that soaks into the cherry clafoutis as it bakes. However—this does make it trickier to eat. So instead, I recommend pitting the cherries and just adding in some almond extract. (An alternative is to add some of my favorite Greek spice, mahleb. It’s made from ground cherry pits and has THE most wonderful warm almond flavor. There’s nothing else like it, and I wish it would find it’s way into more western kitchens!)
Custard is my favorite kind of dessert, so this recipe has a special place in my stomach. Something about the sweet fruity smell and the slightly firm custard and the juicy burst cherries is just the absolute BEST. I hope you enjoy this easy-yet-fancy summer treat as much as I did! And if you have extra cherries around, I’d highly recommend trying out this sweet and tart black cherry shrub from the archives. Enjoy, dear reader!
Cherry Clafoutis
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (13 ounces) pitted sweet cherries fresh or frozen
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour or 1 to 1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk, 2%, or coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or coconut cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a roughly 9 x 12 baking dish and dust lightly with flour. Scatter the cherries around the bottom of the dish and set it aside.
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Now prepare the batter. In a large bowl, pinch together the sugar and lemon zest (this releases the oils in the lemon zest). Add the eggs and honey and whisk until smooth. Next, add the flour and salt and stir until combined. Then whisk in the milk, cream, vanilla, and almond extracts.
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Pour the batter into the greased baking dish over the cherries, then bake in the center rack of the oven until lightly browned with a slightly wiggly center, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 to 45 minutes. If the top of the clafoutis is browning too quickly during baking, tent it with tin foil.
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Place on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes before slicing and serving. During this time the clafoutis will deflate slightly—this is totally normal! It still tastes delicious. Serve and enjoy!
