Delicate, moist and aromatic French clafoutis pie is one of the great pudding variations. Although other stone fruits can be added to the clafoutis, it is traditionally baked with fresh, preferably seasonal, cherries.
Cherry clafoutis recipe
For a cake that's enough for six servings, you'll need:
- 500 g fresh cherries;
- 75 g of icing sugar;
- 3 tablespoons of brandy;
- 20 g butter;
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar;
- 50 g flour;
- 2 chicken eggs;
- 270 ml of milk with a fat content of at least 2.5%;
- a pinch of salt;
- 3 drops of almond essence;
- zest with ½ lemon.
Although originally small, tart and sour griot cherries were placed in the clafoutis, over time they have been replaced by sweet dessert cherries. Culinary experts did not come to a consensus on whether to extract seeds from berries. Some say that it is terribly inconvenient to spit them all the time, while others believe that it is the seeds that give the baked cherry the necessary taste and aroma. Whichever side you take, you will have to remove the stems from the cherries. Then put the fruit in a bowl and press down lightly. It is necessary to press so that the juice stands out inside the cherry, the skin bursts slightly, but the fruits still retain their shape. Pour brandy into the crushed cherries, sprinkle with two tablespoons of powdered sugar, stir and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Leave it on for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 1-inch baking dish and arrange the cherries in one layer. It is best to use a mold with thick walls - porcelain or cast iron, glass is also suitable. Sprinkle the berries with half the sugar and shake the pan to coat the cherries on all sides.
Sift the flour into a bowl along with the salt and the remaining powdered sugar. Melt the butter and beat the eggs. Combine sifted flour with eggs, milk and butter, sweep out damp, smooth dough. Add essence and zest to it. Pour into prepared dish over the cherries and bake for half an hour, then sprinkle with brown sugar and bake for a few more minutes, until the sugar forms a crust. Finished clafoutis - slightly damp inside.
Clafoutis with almond dough
The clafoutis is even more aromatic when baked with almond dough, which is great with cherries. Take:
- 400 g cherries;
- 50 g of ground almonds;
- 2 tablespoons of wheat flour;
- 100 g of icing sugar;
- 2 whole chicken eggs;
- 2 yolks;
- 20 ml cream.
Arrange the washed berries with the cuttings removed in an oiled form. Beat the eggs with the yolks and cream, add the powdered sugar and flour in a thin stream. Stir in the ground almonds gently. Pour the resulting mass into the berries and bake the clafoutis in an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 30-35 minutes, until the cake turns beige and golden. Serve warm.
