Cherry Clafoutis

A clafoutis is a rustic French dessert made with black cherries. I got my recipe out of this wonderful book, and my mom and sister immediately wanted the recipe when I made a clafoutis last summer. My dad surprised me recently when he came over with a large flat of dark, ripe cherries, perfect for this dessert. My opportunity had come. I made this recently for my mom's birthday as well as two of them for Olivia's, which was only three days later. Mine didn't turn out perfectly, but I try not to let my perfectionism hold me back, so I'm posting it anyway. I actually use less sugar than the recipe calls for (and may be able to use even less) because those cherries are so very sweet on their own anyway. Get yourself some cherries, and get baking!

The recipe book is Australian, so everything is in grams and celcius. I converted the measurements using an online conversion calculator and got this:

2 3/4 cups dark cherries

butter for the baking dish

Mixture one:

.8 cups flour (I use 3/4 and top it off a little)

3/4 cups granulated sugar (recipe says 1 cup)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla

Mixture two:

1/2 cup granulated sugar (recipe says 3/4 cup)

.66 cups unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

I do more like 3 cups of cherries, because that's my favorite part of this dessert. Also, I use a stick and 2 more tablespoons of butter to get the .66 cups.

 Pit your cherries and actually cut them in half. The juice that runs out during baking makes the clafoutis moist and delicious.

Preheat the oven to 356 degrees Farenheit (180 degrees Celcius). Butter a 9-inch round cake pan or pie plate. Cover the bottom with pitted cherries.

Mix the first mixture (flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, milk, vegetable oil, salt, vanilla) until smooth and pour over the cherries.

  Mix the second mixture (sugar, butter, eggs) until smooth and pour over the first one.

Bake the clafoutis in the preheated oven for about an hour. Invert the cake onto a serving platter and serve warm. You can sprinkle the top with powdered sugar if you like, but not when it's hot.

One thing I'd like to point out is that no matter how much or how little I bake it, mine sticks to the bottom of the pan. You can see I'm missing some chunks in my picture. It may be my pan, but next time I think I'll try lining it with parchment paper and see how that goes. If that fails, I have a pretty pie pan that I can bake it in and serve it in without having to flip it upside down to serve.

xoxo,

Tanya