What Is Cherry Clafoutis?

It’s a custard of sorts, a firm custard, one with enough structure to support a lot of fruit. The basic ingredients are sugar, eggs, flour, and fruit. Easy! For this cherry clafoutis, we’ve also included some vanilla extract, almond extract, and blanched almonds. Right out of the oven this clafoutis looks a little like a battlefield of cherries. Which is why I think one sprinkles powdered sugar over it before serving. Anything can be made pretty with powdered sugar, right? As Garrett says, “If you’re a fan of desserts with little work and a lot of payoff, then clafoutis is the way to go.” Agreed!

How to Pit Cherries

Traditionally, a French cherry clafoutis contains fruit with pits. We prefer to eat this treat without pits. No cherry pitter? No problem. You can smack a cherry with the flat side of a knife blade to pop the pit out, dig the pit out with a paper clip, poke the pit out with a chopstick, or invert a pastry tip onto a cutting board and push the cherry down on it.

Fresh vs. Frozen Cherries

Fresh cherries work better for this recipe because they’ll give more flavor, but you can use frozen cherries if that’s what you have to work with. Defrost and drain the cherries then pat them dry before adding them to the dish.

How to Store Clafoutis

Store covered clafoutis at room temperature for two days or refrigerate tightly covered up to four days.

More Cherry Dessert Recipes to Love 

Bourbon Cherry Crisp Cherry Frozen Yogurt Apricot Cherry Galette Black Forest Cake Le Talleyrand

Note that the texture of clafoutis is like a sturdy custard, so if it feels a little rubbery, that’s just how it’s supposed to be. Feel free to reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup if you are working with very sweet cherries, or would prefer a less sweet clafoutis.