Cherry clafoutis, made famous by Julia Child, is a simple and tasty dish to ring in cherry season! Consider leaving the pits in your cherries to save time.
This post was first published on Jun 18, 2013 and was last updated on June 27, 2020.
When the damp Nova Scotia spring fades into summer I always have an urge to make cherry clafoutis. A light, creamy, custardy tart, this clafoutis is lightly sweetened, with a hint of vanilla. It takes minutes to assemble in one bowl, and is great with fresh summer cherries, however, feel free to make it with any other seasonal fruit you like!
What Is Clafoutis?
Clafoutis is an egg-based custard dish similar to a Dutch Baby. Though clafoutis has similar ingredients to a Dutch Baby, and also sometimes puffs on the edges, it uses a different baking method, takes longer to cook in the oven, and is silkier and more custardy in texture.
Ingredients
- butter
- flour
- sugar
- salt
- milk
- eggs
- vanilla
- fresh cherries
- powdered sugar for garnish (optional)
How To Make Step-By-Step
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and butter a 9-inch (23-cm) round or square baking dish.
- Add the flour and milk to a bowl.
- Crack in the eggs and add the vanilla.
- Whisk everything together until smooth. The harder you whisk, and the more air you incorporate into the batter, the higher the chances of the edges puffing. I personally like puffy edges!
- Pour ¾ cup (190 ml) of batter into the bottom of the buttered dish. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set.
- Carefully pour the remaining batter into the dish.
- Scatter the cherries evenly over the batter in the dish.
- Bake the clafoutis for 45-50 minutes, or until the edges are golden, and the middle is set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you like, and serve warm or cold.
Notes & Tips
- Use Fresh Or Frozen Fruit – You can make this recipe with fresh or frozen cherries, however, note the baking time may change if using frozen. Keep your eye on the cherry clafoutis while it’s in the oven watching for golden edges, and the middle to set.
- A Note On Cherry Pits – Because I don’t own a cherry pitter, and hate pitting cherries by hand, I always bake my cherry clafoutis with the pits left in! The cherries bake up so soft that the stones slide right out, however, be sure to mention the cherry pits to others to prevent broken teeth. Also, if I’m having guests over I remove the cherry stones because spitting out pits at the table is kind of gross.
- Make This Recipe In Advance – You can make cherry clafoutis up to two days before you need it. Keep it tightly covered in the fridge, however, I will say, fresh clafoutis is the best!
- To Serve Cherry Clafoutis – Don’t be surprised when your puffy out-of-the-oven clafoutis deflates in the first five minutes! I like to let mine sit for five or ten minutes, dust it with powdered sugar, then slice it into wedges like a pie.
- A Note On Adding The Powdered Sugar Garnish – Though it looks pretty at first, the moisture of the clafoutis quickly absorbs the powdered sugar garnish. After a little while you can’t even tell it was there! Clafoutis tastes great as is, and if you don’t want the added sugar, skip the powdered sugar completely.
- How To Store – I wrap the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap and store clafoutis in the fridge for up to two days. It will keep for three days but the texture changes over time. I find eating clafoutis the first and second days are the best.
- How To Reheat – If you’re like me and prefer to eat warm clafoutis, simply cut a slice, place it on a microwave-safe plate and heat it for 20-30 seconds in the microwave.
More Summer Stone Fruit Recipes
Small-Batch Maple Peach Whisky Jam Whisky and fresh thyme balance sweet peaches and maple syrup.
Peach Bourbon Bread Pudding Egg-free, with a rich, crispy texture from butter and white sugar.
Nectarine Blueberry Crisp Fresh tender fruit is baked soft and syrupy with a buttery crisp topping.
Yogurt Bowl With Cherry Pesto A hearty and nutritious way to start the morning!
Recipe
Cherry Clafoutis
Cherry clafoutis, made famous by Julia Child, is a simple and tasty dish to ring in cherry season! Consider leaving the pits in your cherries to save time.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup (75 g) flour
- ½ cup (100 g) sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (250 ml) milk
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups (450 g) fresh or frozen cherries, pits left in or removed
- powdered sugar (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease a 9-inch (23-cm) round or square baking dish.
- In a large bowl whisk the flour, sugar, and salt to combine. Add the milk, eggs, and vanilla and continue to whisk until the sugar is dissolved and the batter is smooth.
- Pour ¾ cup (190 ml) batter into the prepared buttered baking dish (or enough to just cover the bottom of the dish). Place the dish in the oven and bake until the batter sets, about 8-10 minutes.
- Remove the dish from the oven. Pour the rest of the batter in and scatter the cherries evenly over the top. Place the dish back in the oven and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes or until the clafoutis is puffy, golden, and set in the middle (wobbly but not wet).
- Cool the clafoutis on a baking rack for 5 to 10 minutes then serve warm, cut into slices, and dusted with powdered sugar.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 128Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 105mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 3g
DISCLAIMER - NUTRITIONAL DATA IS PROVIDED BY A CALCULATOR AND IS A ROUGH ESTIMATION OF THE NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION IN THIS RECIPE.
So perfect! I just made clafoutis with roasted rhubarb and vanilla bean. Nummers!
Beeeeaoooootiful!! I've never made a clafoutis, but I vote cla-FOO-tee.
This is on my to-make list this year! Growing up with six cherry trees in BC it literally pains me to pay the sky high Alberta prices for cherries though 🙁
Gah, yours looks mouth watering though. Maybe we'll splurge
@Renee – Roasted, rhubarb and vanilla bean. Three of my favourite things ever!! xo.
@Jessie – I think you may be on to something.
@Stephanie – OR, sub in another seasonal budget-friendly fruit. Seriously, so easy and would go with anything.
Can you use frozen cherries in this recipe?
Sara, hi! And yes! I made the strawberry one in the pictures with halved frozen strawberries and it was perfect so frozen cherries should work just fine! Happy baking. 🙂
This looks delicious. I’ve never made clafoutis before but, I have so many cherries right now so I’m adding this to my list.
What a gorgeous clafoutis! The lip (can we call it a crust?) is wonderfully puffed and browned too – it looks spectacular. I’ve always loved the fact that clafoutis is one of the few cooked desserts that uses sweet cherries to great effect, and with them coming into season right now, I’m looking forward to making this. Cheers!
What a beautiful clafoutis! I didn’t realize that it is quite non-fussy to make. I probably will pit my cherries because I don’t trust my 2 year old to spit the pits out. Thank you for this recipe.
I used to make a version of this all the time! We called it ‘puff pancake’. This cherry version looks out of this world and I appreciate the tip for skipping the powdered sugar. 🙂
I did the cherry and then decided to try it with peaches. Slightly different process as the peaches go on the baked bottom before pouring the batter.