I recently stumbled on the great blessing of moving to a property with a huge cherry tree. My husband has really taken to all aspects of care-taking for this property, including pruning the fruit trees and plants, controlling pests using organic methods and setting up a timed watering system that will help keep the plants healthy even when we’re away. He picked buckets of cherries and I quickly pitted and froze them so that we can enjoy them all year long.
This year was the first year I dropped the $10 to buy a cherry pitter. This little device makes the job SO much more efficient and effective. (And you can even visit Weaver’s market for their even fancier version that pits 4 cherries at once!)
A friend stopped by to pick some cherries and mentioned that she wanted to make a cherry clafoutis (pronounced clah-foe-tee) – a traditional French dessert using her French grandmother’s recipe. This piqued my interest since so many American pie recipes call for sour cherries instead of sweet cherries, so she shared the recipe with me. How cool is that? A real old-world recipe passed down from generation to generation!
But as soon as I heard about clafoutis, I decided to make it that night on a whim before she had time to give me her recipe. I of course made the tried-and-true recipe next and haven’t gotten tired of clafoutis yet!
I have to admit, this became a breakfast staple for a few days. With its low sugar and high protein content, this treat really isn’t all that bad for you – depending on what you think of cholesterol. Personally I try to avoid too much refined sugar but I don’t worry too much about cholesterol from animal-based proteins.
PrintCherry Clafoutis
Clafoutis (pronounced clah-foe-tee) is a traditional French dessert, reminiscent of a baked custard. It can be made with any fruit in season, though it is typically made with berries or stone fruit. This recipe was passed down from generation to generation from my friend’s French grandmother!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 4 cups dark sweet cherries, stems removed
- Butter or oil to grease the pan
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt (optional)
- A handful of powdered sugar to dust the top (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Wash and pit cherries.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and sugar.
- Make a well in the center. Crack the eggs and whisk in. Mix in the milk little by little.
- Grease a large (8×8) casserole dish or pie pan. Spread the cherries out on the dish evenly. Pour the clafoutis batter over top of the fruit.
- Cover the edges of the clafoutis with aluminum foil and bake in the 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. (Check after 30 minutes)
- Serve warm or cold. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving
