Clafoutis

My orchard is bursting with cherries at the moment.   The other day, I picked about 8 kgs and now, the next tree is ready to harvest with similar numbers.  At this time of year, I'm looking for things to do with cherries but I often freeze a lot for later use

However, this year I have decided to try my hand at a fairly local dish, a cherry dessert, Clafoutis

Clafoutis is a delicious cherry batter pudding from Limousin, a region just to the north of Ian's French Kitchen… Imagine a pancake batter, laden with cherries, and you're getting close

So here is my recipe....

Preparation time  15 minutes
Cooking time – 40 minutes
Serves – about 6

Ingredients 4 cups ripe cherries (washed) 3 eggs  4 heaped tablespoons plain flour 1 teaspoon baking powder pinch of salt 2 tablespoons sugar 300ml milk ½ teaspoon vanilla extract Cherry brandy 2 tablespoons melted butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, then blend in the sugar.
Sift in the four and baking powder and add the salt.  Continue beating
Warm the milk and vanilla extract and slowly add it, whilst continuing to beat.
Add a small slug of cherry brandy and then whisk in the melted butter.
Cover the bottom of a well greased oven proof dish with a single layer of whole cherries
Gently pour the batter over them until the cherries are barely covered
Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes.
The clafoutis should look like a delicious golden pancake with cherries Rest for about 10 minutes.  The clafoutis will sink a little, whilst resting

Tip:

Lots of recipes call for the cherries to be pitted.  If you do this it IS much easier to eat….  But ALL my French friends insist it should be made with unpitted cherries as otherwise the colour from the cherries stains the batter distracting from the look of the dessert.

The batter can easily be made in a food processor.  I start with the eggs, then, with the machine running slowly I add the sugar until it's smooth.  Next add the salt, vanilla extract and milk and allow to beat a little more.  Finally, sift in the flour and baking powder and beat for one minute.