Sylvia’s Cherry Clafoutis

Clafoutis (pron. Kla-fou-ti) is one of my favourite classic French desserts when cherries are ripe and ready for the picking. No cherries? No worries. Not only can you enjoy this simple sweet pleasure with cherries, I have baked Clafoutis using my honeyed method below in a variety of ways with blueberries, blackberries, diced apple, black grapes, rhubarb, apricots, small figs and plums. Experiment! Bake in individual ramekins or oven proof dishes, in a gratin dish to share (as shown) or small cake or tart tins. Adjust sweetness to your liking. My batter is quite thin and sets to a golden light custard-like sponge. When this one (above) came out of the oven, my mouth was watering so much so I couldn’t resist a spoonful whilst it was cooling. Accompany with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmm … Oops, I forgot to take the photo! Never mind, you get the picture. Enjoy! Sylvia xx

METHOD

• In a small to medium non-stick frypan, heat the honey then add the cherries or desired fruit. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5-10 minutes (depending on fruit used) or until the honey and fruit juices have turned into caramelised syrup. Gently swirl the fruit in the pan to coat with the honey. Keep warm.
• Meanwhile, beat the eggs, sugar, cinnamon or nutmeg if using, and salt together with a hand whisk (you don’t need a food processor for this). Sift in the almond meal and flour, whisk to combine. Then gradually whisk in the milk followed by the melted butter.
• Pre-heat oven to 160-180°C (convection oven, full fan) or 180-200°C (conventional oven) depending on size of baking dish.
• Have ready, lightly buttered baking dish or tins and place on a baking sheet.
• Give the batter another whisk and pour it into the baking dish or tins. Add the fruit and syrup whilst still warm – do your best impression of a French Impressionist artist (as below). 😀
• Place in pre-heated oven to bake for 20-30-35 minutes, depending on size of dish, or until the batter is baked golden.
• Remove from the oven. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for about 5-10 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or cream.

Absolutely delectable! Sylvia xx

Cherry Notes
When cherries are in season and ready for the picking, you can become overly enthusiastic and overloaded with fantastic fresh fruit. In this case, I not only preserve them in syrup but also freeze them.
I take a bowl of cherries outside (avoids making a mess and staining the kitchen), sit in the garden, adorned with black apron, cherry stoner in hand and begin de-stoning those shiny juicy black orbs.
Once finished, I pop them into freezer friendly containers with lid, weigh, label and date and find a spot in the freezer for when I crave another Cherry Clafoutis. 🙂