Cherry Clafoutis

I am the sort of person who loves to go out with friends for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, coffee, dinner, late dinner ... Basically, I enjoy catching up with friends while eating something delicious that I don't have to clean up afterwards! Unfortunately, my plans for a breakfast catch-up this morning were spoiled by the fact that my car is currently in at the shop getting repaired, so I am transportless! So instead of borrowing my housemate's car (yet again), I decided to invite my friend Lauren over for breakfast.

I went browsing on the internet for inspiration, trying to figure out how to use the very limited supplies in my kitchen. Luckily, I remembered that I had a whole bunch of frozen cherries in my freezer, bought with the intention of making smoothies. So when I stumbled across a mention of clafoutis, and how simple it is to make, I knew I had a possibility.

I had never had a clafoutis before this morning, so wasn't sure what to expect. The high ratio of eggs to flour means that this dish is a lot more custardy than I was expecting (which was something akin to a baked pancake). My housemate, Andrew, described it as being very similar to a bread pudding in texture. The baked cherries infused the whole dish with a rich flavor, and the bottom of the clafoutis had a nice caramelly crunch to it. A lot of water came out of the cherries while they were cooking initially, which meant that my clafoutis didn't have a thick layer of caramel at the bottom of the pan, which is what I think is meant to happen.

All in all, this was a succesful experiment, resulting in a delicious breakfast catch-up with minimal effort required on my part! I plan on trying this recipe again when stonefruit come into season.

Cherry Clafoutis

Serves 3-4

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 pound/ 450 grams cherries - if they are fresh, then remember to pit them!

butter

2 tablespoons granulated white sugar

Preheat oven to 425F/220C.

Either medium sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients - flour, salt, and sugar (2 tablespoons).

Mix in the wet ingredients - eggs, milk, and vanilla. If you are using a blender or food processor, be sure to scrape down the sides midway. The consistency of the batter should be smooth, and very liquidy. Put to the side while you prepare the fruit.

In a large (9 inch or 23 cm) heavy, nonstick, ovenproof skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Make sure that the melted butter coats the bottom and sides of the pan.

When the butter has melted and is beginning to bubble, add the cherries. Cook cherries until they are coated with butter and are beginning to soften.

Sprinkle the pan with the second 2 tablespoons of sugar, and allow the sugar to disolve into syrup, stirring occassionally. This should only take a minute or so.

Pour the prepared batter over the cherries.

Bake for 20 minutes. The clafoutis will puff up and set, and be golden brown around the edges. Ignore the temptation to open the oven during the baking process, is this supposedly causes the clafoutis to collapse.

Serve immediately! You can dust with powdered sugar, or serve with yogurt or creme if you want to make the dish look a bit more elegant.