Happy Bastille Day! Cherry Clafoutis recipe

It is cherry season, and I love to make a clafoutis for dessert. This one is very low calorie, about 4-5 WW Pts. Plus, I think.  I posted it in 2003, but have changed it a bit, doubling the custard.

Clafoutis

1 pound cherries, with or without pits

2 tablespoons kirschwasser, brandy, or lemon juice

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

6 tablespoons flour* or flour alternative

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 ½ cups skim milk

4 eggs

grated rind of one half of a lemon

2 pinches of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. Remove stems from cherries.  You may also remove the pits, if desired (Traditional French cooks usually leave the pits in. They say it adds flavor). Toss the cherries with powdered sugar and kirschwasser and set aside for at least 2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a Pyrex dish (I have an 8 inch square white porcelain dish with high sides that I love to use – whatever size lets the custard come up over most of the cherries) with cooking spray.

3. In a bowl, pour the flour and granulated sugar, and stir together.

4. Pour in milk and whisk until thoroughly blended.

5. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, and then add lemon rind, nutmeg, and vanilla.

6. Pour liquid off of cherries (If it is a liqueur, and if you like, you may make this liquid part of the 1 ½ cups of milk – just add less milk).

7. Scatter cherries evenly on bottom of cooking dish.

8. Pour egg and milk mixture over cherries and cook for 30-45 minutes, or until brown and puffed.

9. Chill in the refrigerator. The clafoutis will deflate after it is removed from the oven. Serve cold.

Servings: 8

Notes: I have a bottle of Pineau des Charentes, a fortified wine from Poitiers, France, and I usually soak my cherries in that.

*I also have made the recipe gluten-free by substituting the flour for masa de harina, a corn product.  Almond flour might also be good.

Plum Clafoutis

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a lot of time finding a recipe for something to do with the plums I bought.  I found several recipes for clafoutis, one of my favorite French desserts, on the internet.  This is the one I tried, and it’s very good.  I may have overcooked the one I just did tonight, though.  We’ll see…

Plum Clafoutis (Gourmet Magazine: September, 2008)
Serves 6

* Active time:15 min
* Start to finish:1 1/4 hr

The quintessential French home-style dessert, clafoutis is remarkably simple to throw together. Just whiz up an easy crêpe batter, pour it over fruit, and pop it all in the oven—it will puff up like a soufflé before settling into a tender, pudding-like cake. This version calls for regular black or red plums briefly macerated in sugar and Armagnac, but it’s also delicious with Italian prune plums, which reach their peak in September.

* 1 lb black or red plums, pitted and cut into eighths
* 2 tablespoons Armagnac or other brandy
* 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar, divided
* 4 large eggs
* 1 cup whole milk
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract
* Confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400ºF with rack in middle. Butter a 2-qt shallow baking dish.
Toss plums with Armagnac and 1 Tbsp sugar in a bowl and let macerate 15 minutes. Transfer plums to baking dish with a slotted spoon and pour juices into a blender. Add eggs to blender with milk, butter, flour, salt, extracts, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar and blend just until combined. Pour over plums.
Bake until puffed and just set in center, about 35 minutes. Cool 15 minutes, then dust with confectioners sugar.

To be honest, the clafoutis that I fell in love with and bought and ate compulsively in France was more of a pie, with a custard filling and cherries.  This is still very good, though!

P.S.-  I am eating some now.  FYI, it’s great!