With cherries at their peak, we channeled a Julia Child recipe to create cherry clafoutis. We recreated her recipe for the classic French dessert which can be enjoyed all year long. And, as a bonus, the recipe is easier than you probably expect.
Cherries are ripe. They’re red. They’re sweet. They stain your hands (and just about everything else.) They’re high in antioxidants. (Not that we care but that can’t be bad.) We love eating cherries so much that spitting out pits proves to be just a minor inconvenience.
Without a ton of pastry knowledge, we wondered how to incorporate the ripe red treasures in a recipe. So we scoured our cookbook collections for recipes.
We started with Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, an old, popular but seldom used book in our cookbook collection. Sure enough, while scouring through the dessert section, we encountered cherry clafoutis, a classic French dessert. Success!
Even in the sometimes overly complicated Julia compendium, cherry clafoutis is an easy recipe to make. Other than fruit, cherry clafoutis doesn’t require any special ingredients. And, apparently, the dish, despite its abundant amount of sugar, is relatively healthier than many other desserts. (We’re looking at you crème brûlée!!)
Be aware that we’ve made a few small adjustments to Julia’s recipe.
First, we use a ceramic pan and, in turn, solidify the base of the clafoutis batter in an oven. We could alternatively use a cast iron pan on the stove; however, our spanking new ceramic tart dish creates a more attractive presentation.
Second, because we love the flavor, mouthfeel and appearance of vanilla bean, we use a whole vanilla bean in the batter.
Third, we up the salt quantity from a quarter teaspoon to a half teaspoon since we like a little more salt in our sweets.
Finally, Julia’s recipe calls for an oven temp of 375°f but we feel more comfortable at 350°f. (More on temperature conversions later.)
Ingredients
To make this recipe, all you need are some dark ripe cherries, sugar, a few eggs and some milk plus basic tools like a blender, a tart dish and, of course, a cherry pitter. (You’ll also need an apron – more on that later.) Here’s the full ingredient list:
Ingredient quantities are detailed in the printable recipe card below.
How To Make Cherry Clafoutis
This is simple recipe to pilot, especially if you have a good blender. And, if you’re a planner, you can freeze the clafoutis and reheat it a few days later.
Once you preheat your oven (350°f / 180°c if you’re using a conventional oven or 330°f / 165°c if you’re using a convection oven), you’re ready to go.
Start, if using fresh cherries, by pitting the cherries first – it’s a laborious process but it’s worth the extra effort. You could de-pit your cherries by splitting them using a paring knife and spoon. We prefer using a cherry pitter despite its status as a unitasker. Either way, it’s important to recover a pit for each individual cherry so that no cherry pits end up in your finished product. It’s also important to wear an apron to avoid getting cherry juice on your clothing.
Fun Fact
Original cherry clafoutis recipes call for unpitted cherries since the pits impart a distinct bitter almond flavor to the dish (Did you know that cherry pits contain a small, nonlethal dose of amygdalin, a cyanotic compound?) Well, anyway, we pit our cherries since we prefer not to spit out cherry pits when we’re enjoying a delicious dessert. Plus who wants to break a tooth?!
Split the vanilla bean in half with the sharp point of a knife and scrape the beans out with the dull side of the knife.
Pro Tip
You can replace the vanilla bean with a tablespoon of vanilla extract if you don’t have access to a vanilla bean.
Once your cherries are pitted, set them aside. Place the dry and wet ingredients (excluding the pitted cherries and half of the sugar) directly into a blender pitcher. Blend the mixture to make a loose batter.
Cover the bottom of a dish or pan with a layer of butter and pour enough of the batter to cover the bottom of the buttered vessel.
If you’re using a ceramic dish that’s not fire proof, pour in the batter, place the dish in the pre-heated oven and cook the batter until it sets. (This step should take about 10 minutes or less. Keep a constant eye on the batter.)
If you’re using something fireproof, like a cast iron pan, place it on top of the stove on a medium fire and heat the pan until the batter just sets. (The stovetop method should take less than five minutes.)
Once the bottom layer of batter is set, place the the cherries on top of the batter layer.
Reblend the remaining batter in the blender for a few seconds until it’s well mixed and pour it over the cherries.
Evenly sprinkle the remaining sugar on top.
Disclosure
Julia calls for half of the remaining sugar to be poured into the batter with the cherries. However, through a happy accident, we found that pouring the remaining sugar at the end creates a shatteringly crispy top.
Details matter, as they do in most baking recipes, starting with the oven temperature. We use a European convection oven to bake our recipe. Originally, we did a straight temperature conversion from 350°f to 180°c. This method cooked our clafoutis too fast. In the case you have a convection/fan oven, we recommend you cook the clafoutis at 330°f or 165°c. At that temperature, you’ll create a crisp, caramelized top to the clafoutis while still cooking the dish all the way through.
Bake the clafoutis for about an hour or until the top is set and nicely crisp and brown.
Optionally sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
Serve each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you wish. Your guests will be happy either way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cherry clafoutis is a batter or crêpe based dessert with fruit baked into the batter. Julia Child calls it a flan which is probably the closest description.
Cherry clafoutis has roots in the Limousin region in South Central France.
Cherries, Flour, Eggs, Sugar, Butter, Vanilla and a pinch of Salt.
Yes – you can make this classic French dessert with peaches, apricots, rasperries, blueberries or even figs.
Cherry Clafoutis Recipe
Inspired by Julia Child, this cherry clafoutis recipe isn’t just a wonderful summer treat for guests. You can make it with frozen cherries or seasonal fruit at any time of the year.
Servings: 8
Calories: 186kcal
- 3 cups cherries (pitted)
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar (split in half)
- 3 eggs (large, whole)
- 1 vanilla bean (split and scraped – pod discarded)
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1/2 cup flour (all-purpose)
- 1 tablespoon butter (unsalted)
-
Preheat your oven to 350°f / 180°c OR 330°f / 165°c if you’re using a convection (fan) oven.
-
Place the milk, half of the sugar, vanilla, flour, salt and eggs into a blender and blend at high speed for 30 seconds if you have a high powered mixer OR one minute if you have a lower powered mixer.
-
Pour a 1/4 inch or 1 cm layer of the batter mixture into the bottom of your baking dish or pan. If you’re using a fire proof vessel, like a cast iron pan, cook the batter over your stove until it’s just set, about 2 to 5 minutes. Alternatively, if you’re using a ceramic baking dish, cook the bottom batter layer in the oven, also until it’s just set, approximately 10 minutes. (Keep an eye on it.)
-
Once the batter is set, place the pitted cherries into the batter. Top with the rest of the batter and sprinkle on the remainder of the sugar in an even layer.
-
Place the pan with the cherry batter mixture into the oven and bake until golden brown – approximately one hour.
-
Serve in individual slices or spoon into bowls.
- You can replace the vanilla bean with one tablespoon of vanilla extract if you don’t have access to a vanilla bean.
- You can optionally sprinkle powdered (confectioner’s) sugar on top of the baked dessert.
- You can optionally serve this dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Apricots, blueberrries, figs, peaches and strawberries work well if you don’t have access to cherries.
Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 195mg | Potassium: 204mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 228IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg
