Cherry Clafoutis
- Sweet
- French
- Oven
A French baked custard with cherries set in a tender, buttery batter. It puffs at the edges and settles into a soft, dense center, best served just warm.
- Total
- 65 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 40 · Rest 10
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Whisking · Tempering eggs
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 180°C. Put the butter in a small heatproof bowl and slide it into the oven until just melted, about 5 minutes, then take it out.
~5 min
Melting the butter gently in the oven avoids browning it, so it blends smoothly into the batter without adding toasted flavors.
-
While step 1 cooks
While the butter melts, pit the cherries with a cherry pitter or a small knife and set them aside.
~8 min
-
Whisk the eggs with the sugar and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl until smooth and slightly pale, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the flour until no dry streaks remain, then whisk in the 250 ml milk and the melted butter to make a thin, lump-free batter.
~2 min
Whisking the flour in before the milk coats it in fat and liquid, preventing lumps from forming when the thin batter comes together.
Whisking Whisk in a steady circular motion, scraping the bowl's sides, until the batter is glossy and lump-free; add the milk gradually so the flour never clumps.
Tempering eggs Add the warm melted butter slowly while whisking so the eggs warm gradually; pouring it in all at once can curdle them into streaks.
-
Butter the baking dish generously, pour in a 1 cm layer of batter, and bake for 5 minutes to set a base. Scatter the cherries over it and pour the remaining batter around and over them.
~5 min
The brief pre-bake sets a skin of batter that holds the cherries up, so they stay suspended instead of sinking to the bottom.
The base layer of batter keeps the cherries from sinking to the bottom, so do not skip that first short bake.
-
Bake until the clafoutis is puffed at the edges, set in the center, and a knife inserted between the cherries comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
~35 min
The custard sets when its egg proteins coagulate; a clean knife confirms they have firmed all the way through the center.
-
Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before serving. The clafoutis will deflate slightly as it settles, which is normal.
~10 min
Cooling lets the hot custard finish setting and firm up, so it slices cleanly instead of collapsing when cut.
For deeper caramel notes, let the clafoutis cool a little longer: the sugars in the top crust firm up and taste rounder warm rather than hot.
