The Yummiest French Cherry Clafoutis Recipe
GUEST POST | French Cherry Clafoutis | www.earthlyem.co.uk
About the Blogger: Hi there! I’m Em, blogger over at earthlyem.co.uk. Originally from France, I moved to the UK five years ago and I started my blog at the beginning of this year to share my life in my Leicestershire home and the things that I enjoy like baking and cooking, leading an eco-friendly life, and more general lifestyle bits and bobs such as books and makeup… I blog about everything! I’m so happy to be sharing this recipe for Cherry Clafoutis on The Grumpy Olive today. It is one of my favourite blogs. I never miss a post!
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Cherry clafoutis is probably one of my favourite French patisseries to make in the summer. It’s refreshing, light, simply delicious! I have really fond memories of making cherry clafoutis at home with my parents. And eating it outside on our patio. Since moving to England though, I haven’t indulged in cherry clafoutis at all. And since I’ve not been able to go home for the summer two years in a row now, I thought it was high time I rectified this. And simply made my own clafoutis at home!
I have to say, I much prefer sweet treats to savoury dishes. Anyone who knows me knows that I would always pick dessert over dinner, no matter what. So, it’s not exactly a surprise that my first thoughts when it came to recreating my favourite childhood dish. A sweet custard-like treat was the first thing that popped into my head! It’s honestly the simplest, yummiest cherry clafoutis recipe you’ll ever try.
I may or may not have eaten the whole clafoutis after making this blog post…
So, where does Cherry Clafoutis come from?
Clafoutis aux cerises is a classic fruity French patisserie, between a cake and a flan. It was invented in Limousin, a rural region in the centre of France in the 19th century. However, people loved it so much that it soon spread beyond this region to become a very popular dessert all over the country. And not one French person hasn’t heard of or tasted this sweet treat! Its name comes from the Occitan verb clafir, which means to fill – because we fill a dish with cherries and batter. Pretty clever, n’est-ce pas?
With cherry season being very short, however, with a peak in June and July only, clafoutis evolved and is now a year-round dish. Try it with different fresh fruit such as peaches, plums, apples, apricots, blueberries… You name it, we’ve got it! There is even a chocolate clafoutis recipe to enjoy warm in the winter!
Traditionally, clafoutis is made with whole, unpitted cherries to keep the custard around them a nice golden colour; and it is believed that the pit gives the clafoutis a nice almondy flavour when cooked. You can see in the pictures that my batter has a slightly pink hue to it. That’s because I chose to pit my cherries so it became infused with the colour of the cherries. And that’s because that’s how my family has always done it. And I think it just adds an extra homemade look which I just love! If you’re looking to recreate the traditional recipe, however, Clafoutis purists will tell you that whole cherries are the only way to go here.
If you’re looking for a new way to enjoy the last cherries of the season, here’s my foolproof, yummiest French Cherry Clafoutis recipe. I hope you enjoy!
French Cherry Clafoutis Recipe
Ingredients
- 600 g of black cherries
- 100 g of plain flour
- 100 g of sugar caster or light muscovado
- pinch of salt
- 4 eggs
- 215 ml of milk
- 50 g of melted butter
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven at 180°C.
- In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients: plain flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. If you are using light muscovado sugar, make sure to use your fingers to break up the sugar as much as possible so it mixes well with the flour. Your batter will also look a bit darker than if you were using caster sugar.
- Form a pit in the centre of the bowl and add the 4 eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each egg.
- Add 200ml of milk to the batter, a little bit at a time, mixing well in between each splash until the batter becomes a very thin, crêpe-like liquid.
- Finally, melt 50g of butter. Leave it to cool slightly, and add it to your batter, stirring until well-combined. Leave to rest on the side for 10 minutes.
- While the batter is resting, it’s time to prepare our cherries. Start by rinsing them under some cold water in a colander, and patting them dry with a clean tea towel.
- Pull the stems of the fruit and pit the cherries. I personally cut them in half with a knife, and used my fingers to remove the stone, but you can also use a cherry pitter.
- Butter a shallow, wide round dish and lay the cherries at the bottom of the dish. I did one layer of cherries facing down so the bottom would look put together, and then just grabbed handfuls of the cherries and lay them unevenly on the top.
- Give the resting batter a quick stir, and pour it over the cherries.
- Bake for 40 minutes at 180°C, on the top shelf of your oven for the first 15 minutes, and moving it to the bottom shelf for the remaining 25 minutes. Some ovens will be stronger than others, so I would suggest checking the clafoutis after 35 minutes by plunging a knife in the middle of the clafoutis: if it comes out clean, your clafoutis is ready!
- Serve warm or cold with your drink of choice!
Notes
How to serve Cherry Clafoutis
For some reason, the British love to add custard or cream to their desserts. Something the French would never do to their patisseries (except if we’re talking about chocolate brownies… then yes, absolutely add cream to it). Usually, Clafoutis is served warm or cold depending on your personal tastes. Usually as a slice on a plate with your favourite drink and enjoyed in front of your favourite TV show! But an even better French tradition is to simply take your spoon and eat out of the dish! There’s truly no better way to enjoy it!
3 tips to make the perfect clafoutis
There are many different recipes and ways to make clafoutis out there. But I thought I would share with you the few tips and tricks I learnt over the years that have always worked for me and helped me make the best clafoutis!
- The longer in the oven, the better. Now, this tip will probably not appeal to the most impatient of you out there. And I get you, I’m the least patient woman there is. But trust me on this one! Baking the batter at a lower temperature for longer is one of the best things to do to achieve the perfect clafoutis. I haven’t suggested it in the method of this recipe, I know. But the ideal way to bake the cherry clafoutis would be to do it for an hour at 170°C on the bottom shelf of your oven. Because the batter is a flan, custard-like batter, you want it to melt in the mouth and taste fresh. Baking it this way will prevent it from drying out and becoming chewy (which is probably the worst thing that can happen to your clafoutis!).
- Embrace a liquid batter. The batter of the clafoutis should be as liquid as possible. In order to avoid lumps, it’s important to add the milk a little bit at a time, like I explained in my vegan French crêpe recipe post, and arrive at a very liquidy consistency. If you think your batter is too thick, like pancakes, add splashes of milk to loosen it up a little bit. This will ensure that when it cooks, the clafoutis remains light, airy and soft!
- Want to make the ultimate yummiest Cherry Clafoutis? In the batter, add a few drops of cherry kirsch to bring out the taste and aroma of the cherries. I didn’t have any on hand when I made my clafoutis at home, but I definitely would have if I did! For an alcohol-free version, I would suggest adding a few drops of almond essence extract, or some vanilla or orange blossom extract for a subtle but yummy flavour that pairs well with a clafoutis!
If you decide to recreate this clafoutis before cherry season is out, I would love for you to tag @earthlyemblog on Instagram or Twitter and of course, @thegrumpyolive, so that we can see your yummy recreations! And if you would like a step-by-step video of how to make this delicious cherry clafoutis, I have a reel up on my Instagram that you can take a look at 😊
Thank you so much to Ems for sharing her precious recipe for this Cherry Clafoutis with us! We love a good cherry clafoutis and cannot wait to make it again with this recipe!
If you want to check out our latest recipe, you can find it here. But also, the latest August Advertisers, so you’re caught up with everything!
I’ve never made a clafoutis before but I have no trouble eating them, haha. This looks absolutely delicious, and the sort of thing my aunt would love to make – I’ll send her the recipe, thank you so much!
Thank you Lisa – I hope you’ll get to try it from your aunt! x
Wow this looks and sounds absolutely delicious!!! I’ll be adding this to me ‘to bake list’ as I need to try ASAP. Thank you so much for sharing Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Oh you will love it Elle x
OMG, this looks absolutely gorgeous! I love cherries but they are always so expensive! I love when they are in season and get a little more affordable hehe. I love pastries so much and would finish this within the hour haha xx
Lynn | https://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
I know, cherries can get so expensive! Maybe we need to try it with different fruit Lynn xx
This looks scrumptious. I didn’t even know what clafoutis was before this post. I daren’t pronounce it lol. Nice guest post. I will be checking out Em’s blog x
Definitely check Em’s blog, is absolutely brilliant x
Wow- this looks AMAZING! I have never tried a clafoutis before but I think I need to now. And it looks simpler to make than I would have thought! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Ohhh I hope you’ll enjoy it Sarah, it’s a great bake!
Nice recipe. I must admit that I had never heard about Clafoutis before. Probably because I am not much into French cuisine. But your recipe makes it sound quiet easy.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for reading this Rupali x
This looks so tasty! I love cherry so I’m sure I’d love this.
Corinne x
thank you Corinne x
Ooh this looks amazing! I definitely have to give this a try! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thank you Tiffany xx
I honestly had never heard of this dessert before but it sounds delicious! My mum loves all things fruity so I know this one will be right up her street!
Oh I hope you guys enjoy it if you try it Nicci x
Wow! I have never heard of or had this before but it sounds fab. I want to try out some new recipes this summer. I’ll add this to my list of recipes to try! x
Let us know what you think of it Ruth x
This sounds absolutely incredible! My Mum and I love cherries, so this is something I will have to make her when the borders open and we can see each other again! I would definitely have to have custard with this. Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you Lindsey – hope you guys get to see each other soon! xx
These look so scrumptious. French patisserie is always perfect but I am not sure I could cook to such standards. Congratulations.
I’m sure you can, the recipe from Em is bound to come out perfect!
I have never heard of clafoutis before, but it looks so yummy & I really want to try it! I also like that you can use different fruits as well!
Thank you for reading Karalee x
This is the first time to know about this cherry but it looks so good. I’m sure it tastes even better. Great recipe!
Thank you Fransic x
I have never heard of a cherry clafoutis recipe before but it sounds delicious! I will have to try it out!
Thank you Charity x
Oooh I’m definitely going to see if I can make this vegan! Thank you for this recipe!
We have tried a vegan version recently that was quite good, so totally doable!
I love CLAFOUTIS! I’ve only tried a raspberry version once before but the memory is stuck in my brain for good.
Thank you for sharing such a delicious recipe as always x
Kate |
OMG I have never tried anything other than cherry, so rasbperry sounds insane!!
Oh my goodness that cherry clafoutis looks delightful! I almost drooled on my keyboard at your pictures of it. Sounds perfect for summer.
Cora | https://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
Thank you Cora x
This sounds wonderful and so refreshing! I’ve never heard of this type of dessert before x
It’s a very french recipe we love x
This looks very yummy!! I have tried making a clafoutis in the past but mine didn’t come out very well. I may need to try again with this recipe!
Try this one out, it’s great!
This looks absolutely delicious!! I love cherries, they are my favorite flavor in cakes!
Rosie
Cherries are so so good!
the food looks so good, definitely gonna save this blog for layer to try it x
Thank you Farah x
Great recipe! This looks like such a delicious treat and is completely different to anything I’d usually eat, so maybe I’ll try this one out! Thanks for sharing x
It’s super delicious!
I’ve actually never heard of Clafoutis before, so this is a great insight into a cuisine I love! Thank you for sharing x
Thank you Eleanor x
ohhhh my god. this looks so delicious! I’ve started making pies and and doing lots of fruity baking recently and I am going to HAVE to try this x
This looks so yum!! I love that you may or may not have eaten it all after making it haha. I’m going to have to give this one a try!
Thank you Vourneen x
Thank you Mia x