Clafouti is one of the world's great recipes for enjoying fresh cherries. This French favorite is a sort of baked custard, studded with fresh cherries, and scented with vanilla.

Chef John's Cherry Clafouti

butter

flour

white sugar, divided

milk

eggs

vanilla extract

salt

cherries,

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter 2-quart baking dish.


Place flour, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, and milk in mixing bowl. Whisk thoroughly to blend and break up any lumps. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until well blended. Ladle about half of the custard into the prepared baking dish.


Bake in preheated oven until set, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Distribute cherries evenly on top of the set custard. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar. Ladle in the rest of the custard; avoid rearranging the cherries.


Bake until puffed and browned, about 45 minutes. Cool to just warm. Serve warm.


7.19.16   I’ve only made one clafouti (plum) before this one, and the texture on this leans more  heavily toward custard or  eggy.  The recipe doesn’t say to use tart or sweet cherries, but bing cherries were on sale this week, so that’s what I used, as well as throwing in a few Rainier cherries that I had left in the fridge.  Chef John doesn’t tell you in his video to not pit the cherries, but I’d recommend that you do (the first recipe reviewer didn’t).  My cherries were very large, so I cut them in half, placing them cut side down on the custard for a nicer presentation.  This was OK, but I wasn’t wow’d by it, and this simply could be because I’m not a person who goes bonkers over clafouti??  Certainly was simple enough to make.   I garnished with a shake of confectioner’s sugar.

I wanted to try this with some fresh cherries that I had, but saw that it was best warm, so I made half the recipe in a 1.5 qt. dish.  I did not pitt the cherries and used 2 eggs (rather than half an egg) and it was puffed, browned and a knife came out clean at 35 minutes so I pulled it out.  Having never had a Clafouti before, I can't compare it to another, yet I think it is really wonderful.  It is tender with nice crusty edges (until it cools) and not overly sweet. I don't like eating around the cherry pitts but wated to try it.  Next time I think I will pitt them and cut them so that they can be enjoyed in smaller pieces easier.  Overall I think it is a wonderful use of fresh cherries. Thanks.  Fun to try and really enjoyable.  Other recipes recommend serving it with a dusting of powdered sugar.

When I'm going to a potluck, I don't usually try new recipes.  I took a chance with this one though and it got rave reviews.  I made it just like the recipe called for, except that I used a can of Oregon brand sweet cherries and cut them in half.  I'll be making it again!

Simple recipe that's quick to put together. I used fresh Bing cherries and chose to pit them (which also took the most time). With the amount of sugar I was surprised that it wasn't too sweet. There was a nice vanilla flavor to the custard. It would be good for a special breakfast dish too. I think next time I might add a little cinnamon nutmeg or lemon zest to the sugar sprinkle over the cherries. Update. Have been serving this warm for breakfast. This time I added some nutmeg and cinnamon to the sugar sprinkle. It made a very yummy breakfast served with bacon.

I’ve probably made this about 100 times! My favorite go to easy and guilt free dessert. I follow the recipe almost exactly, with the exception of the sugar- I use 1/2c, and even a bit less if the fruit is especially sweet. I use 1/4 c in the batter, but the sprinkle the other half (I use a vanilla infused sugar) over the top of the custard instead of over the fruit. The sugar on top creates a crusty sweet vanilla scented topping as it bakes.

I have made this dessert many times exactly as it is written. It always draws rave revues. Word of caution: do not over bake it. Start checking at 10 minutes for the first baking and then for the second baking at 35 minutes.

I found this rather flavorless & slimy. I halved my pitted cherries. I m not sure if this cause the cherries to release too much of their juice. The cherries kind of reminded me of grapes in this once they were cooked. Maybe I didn t use the best kind of fresh cherries. There was only 1 kind available in my grocery store. It was edible but I won t make it again.

Something went very wrong, but I think it was my fault or my oven’s fault. The first layer of custard took an extra 5 minutes to set and the full clafoutis just wasn’t setting in the middle… very frustrating! I ended up keeping it in the oven like 30 additional minutes in an attempt to get it to set. Way overdone. I think the issue might be that I had some pans stored in my broiler and forgot to take them out, which might’ve redistributed the heat improperly. I’ll try again with the pans out!

Very good and easy recipe. Will make again. I prefer to take pits out of cherries before baking

See how to make a custardy cherry dessert.

chef john's cherry clafouti

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total: 1 hours, 5 minutes

Servings: 8

Cost: $5.95 /serving

Author : Chef John

Ingredients

Instructions

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chef john's cherry clafouti

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total: 1 hours, 5 minutes

Servings: 8

Cost: $5.95 /serving

Author : Chef John

Ingredients

Instructions

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