cherry clafoutis.

Come summer time, I like to pretend I'm French.  I spend most of June searching for the perfect nude flat leather sandal and the easiest and simplest loose black cotton dress (because any respectable French woman owns these items) .  The kind of thing that can be dressed up with wedges and dressed down by being barefoot.  Dinners get eaten by the light of the setting sun usually accompanied by chilled glasses of rose and wedges of local cheeses.  Dessert always involves seasonal fruit that is prepared in a way that lets the fruit shine.  Cherry clafoutis is the epitome of rustic French desserts (even the word clafoutis sounds rustic!).  Cherries get suspended in a pudding like batter and as the clafoutis bakes, it puffs up like a pancake, enrobing each cherry in custard.  It's perfection and beyond simple and the kind of thing the begs to be eaten outdoors on hot summer nights. 

Cherry Clafoutis

Recipe is from Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan

1 lb (450 g) sweet cherries, stemmed (you can pit them or leave them unpitted your choice!)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
Pinch of fine grain sea salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup of whole milk
1/2 cup of heavy cream
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Ensure that your oven rack is centred in the oven.

Generously grease a 9 inch pie or quiche pan with butter.

Place the washed and dried cherries into the prepared baking dish in a single layer.

In a medium bowl whisk the 3 eggs until they are light and frothy. Add in the sugar and beat with a whisk for a minute or so until the sugar has dissolved. Add in the pinch of salt and the vanilla and whisk well. Add in the flour and beat the mixture vigorously until the flour is well incorporated and smooth. Gradually pour in the milk and cream and whisk until well incorporated. Rap the bowl against the counter to release any air bubbles and then pour the batter over the cherries in the prepared baking dish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes until the clafoutis is puffed up and golden brown and when a sharp knife blade inserted into the centre of the clafoutis comes out clean.

Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow the clafoutis to cool to room temperature. When you are ready to serve, dust the clafoutis with confectioner’s sugar  by using a fine mesh sieve.

Serves 6.