Cherry & Pistachio Clafoutis

Clafoutis (pronounced KLA-FOO-TEE) is a simple, rustic French dessert made with fresh summer fruit (usually cherries) and a thin, crepe like batter that when baked forms a set, slightly wobbly, rather ‘eggy’ tasting custard, similar to a creme caramel or bread pudding. It’s supposed to be enjoyed ‘just’ warm as a dessert and served with whipped cream, crème fraiche or vanilla ice-cream. It’s also enjoyed for breakfast and brunch (YES!) It tastes nothing like custard made from powder, it is ‘eggy’ like traditional custard and even more so after being baked, it may not be everyones ‘cup of tea’ but I think it’s beautiful and I love it 🙂 I got the basic batter recipe from a Chef I used to work for who learn’t to make it in France, we would just use strawberries in the summer and it was flavoured with orange blossom water. So for this recipe I’ve used fresh cherries and added vanilla seeds to flavour the custard and also included pistachios which go great with cherries 🙂

The Clafoutis originated in the Limousine region of France, where once a year they first use the freshest of local griottes (sour morello cherries). The name Clafoutis is said to come from the Occitan dialect word claufir meaning ‘to cover or fill’. Traditionally the cherries are macerated first with sugar and kirsch (brandy distilled from the fermented juice of cherries). The French leave the cherry stones in as they add an almond flavour to the Clafoutis and it has some browned  butter ‘beurre noisette’  added to the batter also. Orange blossom (flower) water is also used which adds an earthy and perfumed element to the Clafoutis.

 

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon butter (15 grams)
3 tablespoons demeraras sugar (see note*  below)

2 cups fresh cherries (approx 300 grams)
1/4 cup shelled pistachios (optional)
6 medium-sized eggs
1/3 cup castor sugar
3/4 cup standard flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 vanilla bean (approx 15 cm / 6 inch)
1 tablespoon orange blossom water
1 cup & x 3 tablespoons milk (or 300 mls)
1 cup & x 3 tablespoons full cream (or 300 mls)

1 tablespoons demeraras sugar (see note*  below)
1 tablespoons butter (15 grams)

 

serves x 6 – 8

 

Notes

• I’ve used Demerara sugar because I like it’s toffee flavoured crunch but it’s expensive so if you don’t already have it on hand you could use raw sugar or white sugar.
• If you’re not fond of pistachios it’s quite alright to just leave them out.
• You can omit the vanilla seeds or the orange blossom water, but maybe not both as your custard will be lacking in flavour. You can also swap both the vanilla seeds and the orange blossom water for 1 teaspoon of almond essence and at the same time swap the pistachios for slivered or sliced almonds.
• Orange blossom water is a  bi-product from the extracted oils from freshly picked orange blossoms. You can buy it from specialty food stores. You need only I tablespoon for this recipe so it may not be worth buying a bottle but just using the vanilla will add enough flavour to your Clafoutis. It’s used for it’s floral character so orange juice is not a suitable replacement.

 

 WALKTHROUGH

Beginning the clafoutis batter pour the milk and cream into a large jug and set aside.

Also In a small bowl whisk the eggs together until the whites and yolks are totally combined (until slightly frothy) and then leave the bowl to the side also.

Now, scrap the seeds from the vanilla bean. Using a small, pointed, sharp paring knife hold the bean by it’s little stalk and slice it down the centre, careful not to slice right through. If you were successful (it’s fiddly) and it’s still in one piece, open it up and run the blade of the knife down the pod to remove the tiny little seeds. If you have cut right through that’s cool, just scrap the seeds out of both halves…..

……and then place them in a large bowl with the castor sugar and salt. Next, sift the flour into the bowl and using a wooden spoon stir all three together until combined.

Add the beaten eggs to the large bowl with the dry ingredients and using a whisk, whisk until everything’s well combined and lump free.

Then add the orange blossom water.

Slowly pour the milk and cream in whilst whisking briskly. Continue whisking until just combined and lump free and no more, nothing likes to be overly beaten up!

Leave the batter on the bench so it can rest whilst you prepare the rest of the clafoutis. It can sit up to two hours! It’s best to rest batter so that the gluten in the flour can relax (we’ve made it elasticity when whisking it). It will give your baked custard a finer texture. Same goes for pancake, crepe and pikelet batter (I tested both resting it for at least half an hour and not resting it at all and resting it gave the baked custard in my clafoutis a finer texture).

Time to stone (pit) the beautiful, plump little cherries. I use a cherry stoner, actually it’s my boy’s job and what a perfect little job he does, but it’s a ‘mish’ to get him not to eat them all!

• Of course you can just cut them in half around the pip and twist the two sides in opposite directions so that one side comes off and then flick the pip out.

Next, preheat your oven to 150°C fan-bake oven or 175°C conventional oven, on bake with a rack situated just below the centre of the oven.

Find an oven proof dish that can hold 10 cups of liquid. Mine is oval and is 23 cm W x 30 cm L x 5 cm D. If yours is a different shape just know that if it’s smaller and higher than mine the clafoutis may take a little bit longer to cook or if it’s bigger and not as high as mine it may be ready a little bit sooner.

To prepare the dish, grease it well with the first measure of butter (1 tablespoon) and then sprinkle the first measure of demeraras sugar (3 tablespoons) all around the bottom and sides of the dish letting it stick to the butter and coat as much of the dish as possible.

Lay the cherries over the bottom of the dish.

Then roughly chop up the pistachios and sprinkle them around also…..it seems weird that you are putting them on the bottom huh?!!

With a wooden spoon, stir the batter, just to make sure there is nothing sitting on the bottom…….and pour it into the dish, over the cherries and nuts…..now you know why it didn’t matter that they were on the bottom! It should be no fuller than 3/4 or it may spill into the oven and who wants to clean that up? don’t call me, I’ve got my own oven that needs some lovin’!

Carefully place the un-cooked clafoutis in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.

Whilst it’s cooking get the second measure of demerara sugar (1 tablespoon) ready and cut the second measure of butter (1 tablespoon) into x 6 little bits.

After the 35 minutes is up carefully take the clafoutis out of the oven (quickly shutting the oven door after so as not to let out too much heat) and place it on top of the oven or on a board. Quickly sprinkle the demerara sugar all over the top and randomly place the little cubes of butter all over the top also. Quickly but carefully place it back into the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes. Don’t worry about taking it out and putting it back in, this won’t affect the success of your clafoutis!

After it’s last 10 minutes remove it from the oven. It will seem set on top all over but will be jiggly in the centre, that’s okay, it will set quickly as it cools down.

• If it’s cooked too long it will become rubbery on the bottom and taste a bit too ‘eggy’.

It will be puffed up beautifully and be a light, golden brown…….

…..and then immediately start to shrink!!

“What the…….! What did I do wrong”!? Don’t panic, it’s perfectly normal just like a souffle……you did a magical job, a clafoutis wizard is what you are! Not puffing up in the first place is something to be concerned about 🙂 Whilst its still hot run a sharp knife around the edge as it tends to stick to the sides a bit 🙂

Serve ‘just’ warm and dust with icing sugar (confectioners sugar) just before serving. It’s lovely with crème fraiche, whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream. After serving it initially it can warmed in the microwave,  depending on the serving size I would start with 20 seconds and then in increments of 10 until warm (the custard will be ruined if it’s heated up too much).

Storage – Kept covered in the fridge and it will be good for two days (don’t forget it’s quite acceptable to eat it for breakfast!)

If you think a Strawberry & Almond Clafoutis  is more to your liking, I made one here.