Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Fruit Dessert Recipes Cherry Clafoutis 3.7 (3) This simple French dessert is an ideal way to enjoy fresh, juicy cherries. Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins Total Time: 1 hr Servings: 8 Jump to recipe Our recipe for cherry clafoutis produces a light, golden-topped dessert studded with fresh, juicy cherries. It’s made with basic fridge and pantry items like flour, sugar, eggs, and milk, plus a couple of specialty items—a vanilla bean and kirsch, a clear brandy made from morello cherries. Pulling it together couldn’t be easier: Whisk the custard, then strain it into a baking dish filled with the cherries. From there, it’s a 45-minute stint in the oven before the clafoutis is puffed, golden, and ready for serving warm. Top it with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or a dollop of crème fraîche, or simply serve it on its own—this is one summer dessert you won’t want to skip. How to Store Cherries to Keep Them Sweet and Fresh Credit: Jake Sternquist What is Clafoutis? Clafoutis is a classic French dessert made with fresh fruit and a simple custard-like mixture of eggs, milk, sugar, and a touch of flour. It's baked in a shallow dish at a relatively high temperature, which causes the custard to become puffed and golden, much like a soufflé, around the juicy, baked fruit. The dish originated in the Limousin region of France, which sits south of Paris. While clafoutis is traditionally made with cherries, it can also be made with berries or stone fruit like apricots, peaches, or nectarines. Straining the custard helps to remove any clumps of flour that may have formed during the mixing process. We recommend using a fine-mesh strainer for this step, but if you don't have one, you can use a double layer of cheesecloth instead. Alternatively, whisk the custard mixture vigorously and skip the straining altogether. How to Pit Cherries Reach for one and a half pounds of cherries for this recipe, which you’ll need to pit before adding to the baking dish. If you have a cherry pitter, now is the time to pull it out, but there are a couple of easy ways to get the task done without one: Using the flat side of a chef’s knife, press firmly down on a cherry to flatten it (some juice will squirt out). Gently pull the split sides apart, then remove the pit.For extra plump cherries, set one on top of an empty wine bottle, then press straight down with a chopstick to force the pit out. Note that this technique requires larger cherries because if your cherries are on the small side, you may risk pushing the fruit itself into the bottle. Directions Credit: Jake Sternquist Preheat oven; prep baking dish and add cherries: Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 10-inch porcelain tart dish, and fill with cherries. Set aside. Credit: Jake Sternquist Mix dry ingredients: Sift flour and salt together into a large bowl. Add sugar. Credit: Jake Sternquist Whisk in eggs, yolks, milk, and cream; add vanilla and kirsch: Gradually whisk in whole eggs, egg yolks, milk, and cream. Add vanilla-bean scrapings and kirsch; whisk to combine. Credit: Jake Sternquist Strain batter over cherries and bake: Using a sieve, strain the batter over the cherries. Bake until puffed and browned, about 45 minutes. Credit: Jake Sternquist Cool before serving: Let cool until warm; it will sink slightly. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve. Credit: Jake Sternquist How to Store Leftover Clafoutis Leftover cherry clafoutis can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to three days. Enjoy it cold or at room temperature, or reheat it—loosely covered with foil—in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven until just warmed through, 5 to 10 minutes. Clafoutis Variations In place of the cherries, swap in 1 1/2 pounds of peeled and sliced peaches, nectarines, apricots, or plums. For a berry clafoutis, use three cups of blackberries or blueberries. More Uses for Kirsch If you purchase kirsch for this recipe, you're bound to find yourself with quite a bit leftover. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to incorporate it into sweet and savory recipes. In baked goods: While it's still cherry season, consider making Martha's cherry tart, which features a buttery crust and kirsch-spiked cream. Craving something chocolatey? Try using it in a rich, decadent dessert like Black Forest cake or this flourless chocolate-almond torte. And if you've still got some on hand when winter rolls around, how about using it to make the German Christmas cookie known as pfeffernusse, which features plenty of spices and a kirsch-infused icing? In fondue: On the other end of the sweet-savory spectrum lies cheese fondue, which makes for a cozy, retro meal that's as fun as it is delicious. Kirsch is traditionally included for a subtle fruitiness that enhances the flavor of the aged Swiss cheeses. In cocktails: If you'd rather sip your kirsch, give our pink gin martini recipe a try. The rosy cocktail is made with gin, vermouth, and angostura bitters, plus a generous splash of the cherry brandy. 5 Other Cherry Desserts to Try Roasted Cherries With Tofu 'Panna Cotta' Sour-Cherry Cobbler No-Bake Cherry Cheesecake Cherry-Raspberry Semifreddo Sweet Cherry Pie Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.