Clafoutis was the first cake I ever made. It was 2009. Starting this blog in March of that year meant I had been growing slowly but surely in kitchen confidence and about ready to tackle something that involved frightening things like flour and baking powder and measurements. 

Sometime around the day she demystified quiche for me, my great friend Jocelyn introduced me to the idea of a clafoutis. She had grown up with it as her mother’s staple dessert (much like the pavlova in my own home) and explained that there wasn’t really much to it. It involved hardly any measuring at all, in fact.

Three and a half years on and, although measuring stuff still makes me nervous (it’s the Maths, you see) I do feel I’ve come a long way from making my first Clafoutis.

In saying that, isn’t it great to revisit old favourites with a new sense of confidence? When my Mum and Niall’s Mum, Niall’s Nanny and Niall’s sister came over to ours for afternoon tea yesterday, I whipped up this classic cherry clafoutis without hardly breaking a sweat.

Inspired by my Internet friend Lucers, I recently invested in a cherry stoner/de-pitter yoke which I picked up for €7.50 in Stock. It’s a rather wonderful instrument, a gadget of limited use but endless satisfaction.

Splatttt!

Clafoutis is traditionally, I believe, made with cherries, but I have favoured raspberries in the past with pears also making a great fruit base. Experiment with your own favourite summer fruits and see what happens.

There are quite a few eggs in the mixture here making Clafoutis a somewhat eggy dessert. I find it really benefits from cooling down a bit before serving, as it can taste kind of omelettey straight out of the oven.

What you need for Cherry Clafoutis for 6 to 8 people (adapted from this recipe)

About 20 to 25 fresh cherries

Butter for greasing

50g ground almond

2 tablespoons of plain flour

100g of caster sugar

250ml of double cream

2 whole free-range eggs

2 free-range egg yolks 

Heat your oven to 190C/170C fan/Gas Mark 5.

Start by getting the stones out of your lovely fresh cherries. 

Grease a rectangular cake tin (a 30cm by 10cm is what I use but a 23cm round tin works well too – you just don’t want it to be loose-bottomed) with butter.

Scatter the cherries into the cake tin.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the almonds, flour and sugar.

Measure 250ml of double cream into a mixing jug. Add two whole eggs and the two egg yolks and whisk until well mixed.

Now mix the cream mixture into the almond mixture using a wooden spoon until a smooth batter has been made.

Pour this batter over the cherries in the cake tin and bake in the hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Allow to cool before serving.

Add a sprinkling of icing sugar if you like…

…and serve with a dollop of cream or Crème fraîche on the side. 

Categories: Baking Tags: Clafoutis