Pronounced Cla-foo-tee; The name of the dessert comes from from the verb clafir, meaning "to fill"
My friend Wendie who was visiting brought us a bag of Bing Cherries. I have wanted to make a cherry clafoutis for a few years and now was my chance. I found a recipe, adulterated it and it was lovely. This dish would be excellent with strawberries or plums and the addition of nuts. I cannot wait for the plums on the tree to ripen!
Clafoutis puffs up in the oven a bit like a souffle and starts to drop not long after you begin cutting it. It's fluffy somewhat like a warm angel's food cake full of air pockets. Wendie said it reminds her of German pancakes. It's delicate, celebratory and a breeze to make!
For more intense flavors, don't pit the cherries but if you are a dental chicken you might so your guests won't run the risk of cracking a molar. If you want more of a boozy flavor, add a touch of cointreau, grand marnier, kirsch or amaretto to the batter. We added cointreau to the cooking cherries and it burned off so we couldn't hardly notice the flavor though we did see some lovely darker swirls when it baked.
I made it in a black iron skillet. You could also use a 9" baking pan, square or round.
*try not to open the oven door much or slam it while it is baking as it will fall.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (if you're using unsalted butter)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons organic sugar
3/4 cup milk (if using liquor, I would use a touch less milk and substitute the liquor)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound fresh sweet cherries, pitted (or not for more intense flavor)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (if you have salted, just don't add the salt listed above)
1 tablespoon organic sugar
1/4 cup of organic semi-sweet chocolate chips
cointreau, amaretto, kirsh or another liquor if desired
Garnish:
Powdered Sugar (shake in a sifter)
yogurt, whipped cream, creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream
Directions:
Heat oven to 425 degrees F and place rack in center of oven.
In blender mix milk, flour, salt (only if you're using unsalted butter), eggs, 2 tablespoons sugar, vanilla extract & a liquor if you're using any. Pulse for a few seconds and scrape down sides with spatula. Once mixed, let batter rest while preparing cherries.
Pit cherries over a bowl, keeping all the juices that fall out.
In a heavy skillet, melt butter over medium heat and use it to coat sides and bottom of skillet. Pour in cherries and sautee until their color starts to lightly change and they are coated with butter, around 3 minutes. Add in 1 tablespoon of sugar and mix until sugar has dissolved into syrup. Pour batter over the cherries and sprinkle in chocolate chips. Cook about 20 minutes, my oven had me cook it longer more like 26 minutes. The dish should look set, puffed and the edges browned.
Serve immediately as it starts to fall the minute it begins to cool.
