Cherry Clafoutis (Classic Baked French Dessert)

First made famous by Julia Child, cherry clafoutis is a simple and special dessert to ring in cherry season. Eat it warm or cold!

This post first appeared on Jun 18, 2013 and was last updated on May 23, 2021.

Clafoutis is a baked French dessert in which fruit (traditionally cherries) and a flan-style egg batter are baked together. Though it has similar ingredients and puffs up around the edges like a Dutch Baby, clafoutis takes longer to bake. Also, clafoutis stays creamy and custardy on the inside.

I love to make cherry clafoutis in early summer. My version is lightly sweetened with a hint of vanilla. Cherry clafoutis takes minutes to assemble in one bowl, and furthermore, is a terrific way to showcase fresh cherries and/or other summer fruit.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Step-By-Step Instructions
• Notes & Tips
• Substitutions
• Cherry Clafoutis

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

• Butter
• All-purpose flour
• Sugar
• Salt
• Milk
• Eggs
• Vanilla
• Fresh cherries
• Powdered sugar for garnish (optional)

Step-By-Step Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease a 9-inch (23-cm) round or square baking dish with the butter.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the milk to the flour and whisk well to combine.

Crack in the eggs and add the vanilla.

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Next, briskly whisk everything together until a smooth batter forms.

Pour ¾ cup (190 ml) of batter into the bottom of the buttered dish. Place the dish in the oven and bake it for 8 to 10 minutes or, until the thin layer of batter is set.

Remove the dish from the oven and carefully pour in the remaining batter.

Scatter the cherries evenly in the dish.

Bake the cherry clafoutis for 45 to 50 minutes, or, until the edges are golden and the middle is set (the middle should be wobbly but not wet). Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional), and serve warm or cold.

Notes & Tips

Make cherry clafoutis with fresh or frozen cherries, however, note the baking time may change if using frozen.

I always bake cherry clafoutis with the pits left in. Cherries with pits inside bake up soft and the stones will slide out in your mouth. If you bake clafoutis with cherry pits left in make sure you tell anyone else eating it! You don’t want any broken teeth!

The clafoutis will start to deflate when you remove it from the oven — this is normal!

The moisture of the clafoutis will quickly absorb the powdered sugar garnish, and, after a few minutes, you won’t even know it was there.

If you don’t want added sugar, skip the powdered sugar garnish completely.

Once cool, wrap the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap, and store the cherry clafoutis in the fridge for up to two days. I like clafoutis best the first day.

I prefer eating clafoutis when it’s warm. To re-heat, place a slice on a microwave-safe plate and heat on half power for 20 to 30 seconds.

Substitutions

I haven’t tried it, however, I think dairy-free butter and dairy-free milk would work well to make this recipe dairy-free.

Again, I haven’t tried it myself, but you could try an alternative flour like buckwheat or almond (flour not meal) to make gluten-free cherry clafoutis.

Cherries belong to the almond family. For this reason, I think a bit of almond extract would be beautiful in this recipe.

Use any fresh or frozen fruit you like in place of cherries. Blueberries, strawberries, peaches, and rhubarb are all amazing.

More Summer Fruit Desserts

Nova Scotia Blueberry Grunt A very simple, traditional recipe which makes the most of seasonal wild blueberries.

Watermelon Pavlova Fresh lime, mint, and ginger mingle with summer’s quintessential fruit on a crisp meringue shell.

Easy Peach Smoothie An easy summer breakfast! Use canned peaches to make it year-round.

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