Cherries
For a few weeks in a row, we got piles of cherries from our CSA fruit share. I love cherries, but there is a limit as to how many I can snack on before I get a little tired of them. I didn’t want the fruit to go to waste so I decided to try out a cherry clafouti recipe I watched Alton Brown make on an episode of Good Eats.
The recipe, which can be found here, has a really short and basic list of ingredients. This was a huge plus, because it was all stuff that we had on hand. All you need to make this recipe is:
– 12 oz cherries
– 2 large eggs
– 1/4 cup sugar
– 1/2 cup whole milk
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
– Butter, for the Dutch oven
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. To prepare the cherries, I cut them in half by running a paring knife all the way around the pit, then splitting them open by hand. I used the tip of the knife to carefully pop out the pit, and put all the cherry halves into a bowl.
Cherry halves
In a separate, medium sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until it has turned into a pale yellow color and is frothy. Mix in the milk, vanilla, and flour, and whisk until incorporated. This is the batter for the clafouti.
Clafouti batter
Butter the inside of the dutch oven and carefully line the bottom with the cherry halves. I made sure that they all faced the same way and were spread out evenly.
Cherries lined up on the bottom of the dutch oven
Carefully pour the batter over the cherries, trying not to disturb them too much. They will float a bit though, so don’t worry.
Pouring the batter over the cherries
Bake the clafouti (with the dutch oven cover off) on the middle rack for approximately 30 minutes. The top should brown lightly (though mine stayed pale for some reason). Insert a knife to check if it’s done; the knife should come out clean.
Baked clafouti
Let the clafouti cool in the dutch oven for 30 minutes, then carefully remove it onto a plate.
Cherry clafouti
Cut into wedges, and serve. Although my clafouti didn’t get brown on top, it was cooked through and had a nice custardy texture to it. I actually preferred it cold, after it had been in the refrigerator overnight. The recipe is really simple and it makes a tasty dessert or a decadent breakfast.
Clafouti autopsy shot
