Cherry Clafoutis, a rustic French dessert

What is your impression of French cuisine? Probably the common answer is that French food is fancy and complicated. Many of us think French cuisine is those fancy restaurant foods. However, if you think about bistro or home style French foods, they are not fancy at all. Ratatouille, French onion soup, roasted chicken, stews, cassoulet, simple bread like baguette,... and many others are some of homey and rustic everyday French foods.

What about dessert? You don't think those beautifully crafted French pastries served in restaurant or pâtisserie are all French eat as everyday desserts, do you?

I want to share one of the easiest and most simple French desserts called "clafoutis".

Clafoutis is soft cherry pie, which has the texture between pancake and thick custard. Originally, clafoutis is baked with cherry pits, because the pits release almond-like flavor to the batter. However, in this case, you will need to spit out the pit as you eat the clafoutis. So, instead of adding cherry pits, I added almond flour to the batter to give the almond flavor to the baked results.

Cherries are in season now! So, I guess this is a kind of seasonal dessert? :)

Cherry Clafoutis , a rustic French dessert
(Yield: two 7-8" clafoutis / Cooking time: 1.5 hours*)
* 1.5 hours include 15 minutes of resting time for clafoutis batter, and 15 minutes of cooling time at the end.

Ingredients:

+ 2 cups cherry (ripe black cherry) + 1/3 cup sugar + 3 eggs + 1 tsp vanilla extract + 1/8 tsp

+ 1/2 cup all-purpose flour + 2 Tbsp almond flour* + 1 cup half & half* + powdered sugar to dust on top

* You can skip the almond flour if you do not have almond flour. You can also replace half & half with whole milk.




Procedures:
1. Preheat your oven at 350°F (177°C). You will need two 7-8" tart pans for this recipe.

2-1. Mix sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and salt together.
2-2. Add all-purpose flour and almond flour to the mix.
2-3. Finally, add half & half, and...
2-4. Whisk well just to combine all the ingredients.


3. Place the batter in fridge for 10-15 minutes to rest.

4. While waiting for the batter to rest, pit the cherries. Using a small paring knife cut around the cherry and split it in half. Pick out the pit with your fingers. If you have cherry pitter, pit cherries and slice in half.


5. Butter both tart pans and dust with flour. Tap the tart pans to remove any excess flour. The inside of a pan should be thinly coated with butter and flour.


6. Place the coated tart pans on a baking sheet. Spread pitted cherries evenly on the prepared tart pans, and pour the rested batter from #3 over the cherries. Since the batter will puff up when it bakes, please do not pour the batter over half the height of tart pan.


7. Bake the clafoutis in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes until it is puffed and the top is golden brown. Cool the baked clafoutis for 15 minutes in the tart pan over a wired rack before taking out of the tart pan. As the clafoutis is cooling down, it will lose the volume and become denser.


8. Dust the top with powdered sugar. Cut into wedges and serve it while it is still lukewarm.


Enjoy~