Cooking web notes

Cherry Clafouti ~ Bon Appétit!

I’ve never even tasted it, much less baked it but I have seen recipes for cherry clafouti countless times.

As you can see, my blog header has cherries on it so I obviously really like cherries and “red” also.  I had 15 pounds remaining in the freezer and made some more jam with most of it.  Then along came the magazine…

By being on the cover of the June issue of "Bon Appétit," Gwyneth Paltrow has done something few people have done. The Editor-in-Chief says they do it a few times a year with the right person and of course, he/she has to love food to bag the honor.  It’s an interesting article about Gwyneth and her passion for cooking; except, that isn’t really what attracted me to this issue. 

What naturally drew me in was the article with all the recipes for cherries, especially the clafouti.  Since I’ve never made cherry clafouti I wanted to attempt it though, I’m not sure I would make the dessert again ~ there are a plethora of cherry recipes out there!

I used red-tart cherries from a Wisconsin orchard but you can use Bing, Brooks, Early Burlat, Garnet or Rainier cherries.  As it’s close to the season, here’s the recipe that would be good for using fresh cherries, if you favor clafoutis:

Cherry Clafouti

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh cherries, stemmed and pitted or frozen pitted cherries, thawed, drained

1 cup whole milk

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

4 large eggs

½ cup flour

½ cup sugar

¾ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon kosher salt (I used ¼ teaspoon table salt)

Powdered sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Butter 10” springform cake pan or eight 2/3 or ¾ cup ramekins or custard cups.

Arrange cherries in a single layer in pan.

Combine milk and cream in a small saucepan.

 Bring just to a simmer over medium heat.  Set aside.

Combine eggs, flour, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl.

Whisk to blend.

Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture; whisk until custard is smooth.

Pour custard evenly over cherries in pan. 

Bake clafouti until custard is set and top is golden brown, about 45-55 minutes for cake pan or 30 minutes for ramekins.

Let cool 3 minutes, then run a knife around pan sides to loosen clafouti (if using a cake pan).

Dust top with powdered sugar, cut into wedges and serve.

Note:  Clafouti is traditionally made with unpitted cherries for added flavor.  Leave the pits in if you like; just remind your guests!

Bon Appétit!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 20, 2012 at 5:18 AM and is filed under Cherries, Clafoutis, Desserts, Fruit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.