It's cherry time in Paris and the farmers markets are overflowing with them – Yipppeee!!! I love to eat cherries just about anyway possible, but the dessert cherry clafoutis or clafoutis aux cerise, is one of my favorites.
It shows off the fruit without too much sugar and it's easy to prepare for a crowd. We're serving this at Guy Savoy right now in Paris and people can't get enough of it. The real trick is to start with good quality firm, juicy, meaty cherries.
Traditionally the pit is left in the fruit. This is supposed to give flavor and it also makes the prep time shorter (double yippeee!). It keeps the cake-like batter from turning pink too. You can pit them if you're afraid of cracking a tooth, but half the fun is spitting out the seeds.
I often substitute apricots or other stone fruit when in season. At Guy Savoy we adust the copper pan to the size of the table and present it whole. A waiter scoops it out at the table for the diners.
Guy Savoy's Cherry Clafoutis
400g / 1lb cherries
15 ml / 1 tablesppon kirsch
15 ml / 1 tbsp icing sugar
45 g / 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
30 g / 3 Tablespoon flour
170 ml / 3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 lemon rind grated Nutmeg (optional)
Mix cherries with kirsh and icing sugar and let sit for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 190 C/ 375 F. Butter an 11-12 inch oval dish or a shallow pan. Sift flour and add sugar together. Whisk in milk until smooth. Whisk eggs, vanilla, lemon rind, and nutmeg.
Pack cherries on bottom of oval dish and pour batter over. Bake for 45 min or until set. Insert knife into center, if it comes out clean it is done. Serve warm in dish! Note: sometimes I substitute half of the flour for almond powder because I like cherry and almonds together.
sorry about that, it posted by accident. i love cherry season too and getting to spit the pit in the gutters is fun…
I love your blog! though i’m french i love to read paris blogs by americans -i am abit of an americanophile (yes, the word exists!) as well as a paris lover- and i love how your description of your life here is not all “la vie en rose-amélie poulain-ish”, or all “parisians are such dirty-rude-heavy smoking people”. i think you are very courageous to do what you’re doing and i hope to be able to afford a meal in the 3-star-rated restaurant you’re bound to open someday!
I’m just getting together a post on Paris’ cherries & I’ll put a link to this one. Maybe I’ll finally make your Clafoutis with all the cherries I bought to paint…looks wonderful
OK I finally got some cherry ptgs done and added a link to your recipe link here
http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2006/07/le-temps-des-cerises.html
Its a lot cheaper to buy a generic battery for my ibook rather than buying one from the apple store…has anyone had any problems with a generic one? do they work the same or are they a lot worse?
Determine a person’s life, and the entire fate, but the passing second.I love you, and your business.
I really love to try this recipe, unfortunately no fresh cherries available in our place. Is their any alternative? like preserved cherries or something like that? Thanks
Jenny
Many Romanies do not even get that far.
Can I use raspberries and blueberries instead of cherries? Also, what can I mix the fruit with instead of the kirsch? I don’t have any and don’t want to buy a bottle of it just for this recipe. I live in Canada, and alcohol is very expensive. Thank you!