Cherry Clafoutis
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Clafoutis is a simple French dessert that is part flan, part Dutch baby, and all parts délicieux!
Clafoutis (pronounced kla-foo-TEE) is a simple French dessert consisting of fruit baked in a sweet, custard-like batter. The texture is unique and hard to describe — think of it as a cross between a fruit-filled flan and a Dutch baby. While cherries are the classic choice, clafoutis can also be made with other fruits, such as berries, plums, apricots, or apples. Similar to another French classic, crepes, clafoutis batter is a breeze to whip up in a blender, making pitting the cherries the most time-consuming step. Interestingly, some traditionalists swear by using stone-in cherries, claiming they add a subtle almond flavor. But who wants to spit out cherry pits (or, worse, crack a tooth!) while enjoying a lovely French dessert? As a workaround, I pit the cherries and add a dash of almond extract to capture that almond essence.
The secret to making a good clafoutis, in my opinion, is using a combination of milk and heavy cream for the custard batter. Most recipes call for just milk, but cream adds richness and ensures the clafoutis bakes up creamy rather than rubbery. Clafoutis can be served lukewarm or at room temperature, plain or dusted with powdered sugar.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Cherry Clafoutis
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by pitting the cherries. I use the Leifheit Cherry Stoner, and it makes quick work of the task.
Preheat the oven to 375°F and set an over rack in the middle position. Melt the butter in a 10-inch cast-iron or nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat.(Alternatively, if you don’t have the right skillet, melt the butter in the oven in a 2-quart baking dish.)
Swirl the butter so that it coats the sides the pan. Place the cherries in an even layer in the skillet (or baking dish).
In a blender, combine the eggs, milk, cream, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the flour, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
Mix on medium speed until smooth and well combined.
Pour the batter over the cherries.
Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the clafoutis from the oven and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Place back in the oven and continue baking until just set and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Note that clafoutis will wiggle just a bit when done, but a toothpick or knife inserted into the center should come out clean.
Let cool on a rack for about 30 minutes, then dust with powdered sugar (if using), and serve directly from the pan.
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Cherry Clafoutis
Clafoutis is a simple French dessert that is part flan, part Dutch baby, and all parts délicieux!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2½ cups (12 oz) cherries, stemmed and pitted
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup whole or 2% milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned into a measuring cup and leveled off
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- Melt the butter in a 10-inch cast-iron or nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. (Alternatively, if you don't have the right skillet, melt the butter in the oven in a 2-quart baking dish.) Swirl the butter so that it coats the sides the pan. Place the cherries in an even layer in the skillet (or baking dish).
- In a blender, combine the eggs, milk, cream, ½ cup of the sugar, the flour, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix on medium speed until smooth and well combined. Pour the batter over the cherries.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the clafoutis from the oven and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place back in the oven and continue baking until just set and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Note that clafoutis will wiggle just a bit when done, but a toothpick or knife inserted into the center should come out clean. Let cool on a rack for about 30 minutes, then dust with powdered sugar (if using), and serve directly from the pan.
- Leftover clafoutis will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 215
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Sugar: 23 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Sodium: 116 mg
- Cholesterol: 91 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Phenomenal! Just because I had it, I did use half cream and half full fat buttermilk. This in not terribly sweet, which is a good thing, and the buttermilk gave it just the slightest tang. This will definitely be a go to dessert in cherry season. Thank you!
I didn’t have milk so subbed half&half. No heavy cream, subbed full fat Greek yogurt. Also no extracts, I used a quarter teaspoon of Chinese 5 Spice. Baked 40 minutes total. Probably not a true clafoutis, but definitely delicious!
Is the amount of cherries in the clafouti before or after they are pitted? Thanks so much!
Before they are pitted. 🙂
Thank you so very much for your reply; making it today as well as your recipe for Quiche Lorraine which is my go to for quiche. Merci beaucoup!
OMG! So glad I stumbled in your recipe when cruising the web for cherry dessert recipes.
Made this tonight with fresh ripe bing cherries and ate my first piece. Since I used a 12” cast iron pan, I made a 1.44 batch (a little tough when measuring eggs!) You have said this will keep for 3 days in the fridge. I suspect it won’t last 24 hours, let alone 3 days. It tastes too good – I am already eyeing seconds! Looks like I’ll be going to the farm tomorrow to get more cherries to freeze. I will want this recipe during the winter months.
Would it be ok to use sour cherries in this recipe? We had a bumper crop this year and I have pounds of them in the freezer!
Sure, Jennifer, that should be fine. Enjoy!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. My husband loved it too. Didn’t have the almond extract but it was fine without it.
Hi,
I have made many of your recipes with great success!
I have polish jarred dark cherries….will that work drained?
Thanks,
Lynne
Hi Lynne, I believe Polish cherries are pretty sour, so it should work but the clafoutis will be more tart. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Quick, tasty, and perfect for a special treat. Thank you for making recipes so accessible and great for everyone’s palette. I decided at 2 pm that I wanted to bake them something for 3 pm. I ended up with this clafoutis recipe and subbed berries (what I had on hand). I quizzed them on how they’d spell clafoutis. Fun and tasty!
Can I used frozen cherries instead?
Thanks !
Hi Medea, I would use fresh in-season cherries, but if you have good-quality frozen cherries, they will work too. Enjoy!
Would you recommend thawing them prior to using?
I think you can go either way, but I’d err on the side of thawing them.
If you don’t have a cherry pitter, can you cut the cherries in half to remove the pits, or will the juice add too much liquid to the batter? Thank you.
Sure, I think that should work; just keep in mind that your batter may turn a little pink. Hope you enjoy!
Lynn,
You can also poke through the cherries with a sturdy straw in the absence of a cherry pitter!
Thanks for the tip about using a straw. I happen to have a stainless steel straw and will try putting the cherries with this!
Hi Jenn,
I plan on making a half-batch this Saturday (tomorrow) and am wondering if an immersion blender would be ok to use or might it mix too fast? I know of someone who blended pancake batter with a mixer and they turned out like rubber tire patches instead of nice fluffy pancakes. Thanks for your time and expertise.
Rhonda
Hi Rhonda, I think the immersion blender should be okay. Just be careful to blend it until it’s well combined and no more than that. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Hi Jenn, Thanks so much for your help. I made a half-batch, used a 1.5Qt baking dish per your suggestion. I used my immersion blender at low (vs high) speed for very quick bursts, stopping and checking for smoothness after every pulse and it didn’t take much to get it smooth. The cooking time was a bit less. At 17 minutes after sprinkling with sugar, the cake tester came out clean and it was nice and brown like your pictures. The texture and flavor of the cooked batter was perfect. Not at all rubbery as I had feared. All my store had was fresh cherries from Chile. After I got them home and had the opportunity to taste them, they didn’t taste very cherry-like and it didn’t improve once cooked. Your batter stole the show. I might have been better off with a good quality frozen cherry or postponed until cherries were in season again. I will definitely try this again but be choosier about the cherries.
Thanks for reporting back – so glad it came out nicely! Frozen cherries will definitely work here as well if you can’t wait till cherry season. 🙂
Made this Recipe for company the other day. It was outstanding and a new way to use cherries. The texture is hard to describe but very tasty. Blending the ingredients is a big time saver. Thank You also for the Cherry Upside Down Cake Recipe. It’s so nice to have something new to make. Seeing that my husband loves his new Cherry pitter, I think we’ll be making these a lot. Thanks Again
This was amazing!!! I downsized the recipe to make in a little 4.5″ iron mini skillet. The final cook time after sprinkling the sugar on top was 8 minutes. This is so easy and light! Next I will try making it in my Lodge mini-cakes pan for potential when entertaining.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I may try it with various fresh berries.