Cherry Clafoutis

I had the wonderful fortune of having one of those bad-ass grandmothers. Grandma lived with my immediate family for most of my childhood. Every morning she cooked us a hot breakfast and then sat with us while we ate. Grandma (with the help of Grandpa) cultivated a vegetable garden that would put most small farms to shame. She was sweet as sugar, but at the same time tough and fearless - I once witnessed her kill a rattlesnake with a shovel. What? Yes. She wanted to make sure the snake never came back into the yard for fear that it might bite us so she beat the thing to death. 

Grandma grew up on an island in South Korea, bore nine children, and was the wife of the captain of a fishing boat. She was often left alone for weeks or months at a time to raise her children (one of which was my mother) in a two room home. After my mom (the youngest girl of the lot) married my American father, my grandparents came to the States. 

While life was a bit more comfortable in the States I think my grandmother remembered the times when she went without. Fruit was a huge luxury during my Grandmother's time in Korea. We often went cherry picking when cherry season came around, and my Grandmother, bless her heart, would wear pants with the deepest pockets and slip cherries in them till they were bulging.

Grandma passed over five years ago, but she is missed and remembered by my entire family. Lots of things during my day to day life remind me of her, but when cherries come into season I always think of her and cherry picking.

We never cooked with cherries growing up - just ate them fresh. But now that it's just two at home when I have the wonderful fortune of too many cherries I have to think of different ways to use them. Thanks to some advice from my twittering foodie friends I decided to go with a cherry clafoutis. I contacted my former boss and pastry chef extraordinaire, Belinda Leong, for a tasty clafoutis recipe. She's just back in San Francisco after two years of working with the best pastry chefs in the best restaurants all over Europe. She's got something in the works you lucky San Franciscans. 

I baked mine in a cast iron skillet for no other reason than it was the perfect size, but it worked like a charm. I'd like to say I left the pits in the cherries because it is French tradition to do so, but in reality I've been cooking for the past two years without any kitchen gadgets (referring to the cherry pitter here), so couldn't be bothered with pitting. Worked great and prevented any bleeding of the cherries. Just warn your guests before they dive in and break a tooth. 

This recipe makes one clafoutis in a deep 6-inch cast iron skillet. It's the perfect amount for four, or in our case a greedy couple. You could divide the batter amongst buttered and sugared ramekins.

 

CHERRY CLAFOUTIS

• 2 large eggs
• 80 grams sugar
• 32 grams all-purpose flour
• 40 grams almond flour
• 100 grams whole milk
• 100 grams heavy cream
• 20 whole cherries (approx.), cleaned with stems off

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350F. Heavily butter a cast iron skillet. Combine the milk + cream together in a container. Combine the flour + almond flour in a bowl. Gently whisk them together to combine and break up any clumps of flour. Whisk together eggs + sugar in a medium bowl. Once eggs + sugar are combined, whisk them into the bowl of combined flours. Slowly stream the liquid into the bowl while whisking. Pour into the buttered cast iron skillet. Evenly distribute the whole cherries. Carefully place in the oven. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until the clafoutis is set and golden brown on top. Eat immediately. Absolutely not necessary but feel free to serve with a splash of fresh cream.

Comments

[5 Star Foodie]

Your cherry clafoutis looks picture perfect in the cast iron skillet! Yum!

[OysterCulture]

We're in the midst of cherry season here and I've heard some incredible things about cherry clafoutis, I have to try this recipe.

What a great way to remember your grandmother with this recipe!

[lisaiscooking]

Your clafoutis looks so great in the cast iron skillet! The recipe I followed on Saturday that didn't work so well for me had less flour, no almond flour, and no cream. I'll have to try this one next. Sounds delicious!

[Lori]

Bad-ass grandma -- that is awesome! I really enjoyed reading this story. The clafoutis is beautiful! I've never made one before, but it looks delicious and pretty straightforward. I wish cherries were more plentiful here, but I'm just going to have to take advantage of blueberries instead. Not a bad trade off, of course.

[Sophie]

Your cherry clafoutis look truly very appetizing!!

MMMMMMMMM,...Lovely presented too!

[valentina]

The photo fascinated me because you made it in a skillet. Will give it a go as well. I am making a little list of your recipes and so far they are all nice.

[lisa]

I love cherry clafoutis and will have to give this a whirl. Such a loving sweet story about your grandmother --I love how food and life are so closely intertwined.

I think the cast iron skillet is perfect for this -- rustic, simple and beautiful!

[gastroanthropologist]

Lori - I think blueberries would work well in this - any berry really. Let me know if you give it a try and how it turns out. I just made some with whole strawberries (they were the tiny wild strawberries) and it was delicious!

[Michele McCartney]

I love making things in a cast iron skillet - we use ours for cornbread and foccacia. It was my grandmother's skillet, so is well loved and holds a special place in my heart. As did my grandmother, another one of those bad-ass grandmas like yours.

[Tyla]

I loved reading about your grandmother stuffing cherries in her pockets. Cherries have always been one of my grandmother's favorite things and like in your family, we would always eat them raw. She's getting much older now and I think we all sense that time is short, so when I picked up some beautiful cherries at Saturday's greenmarket, I ate them raw and thought of her.

Thanks for sharing the story. Next time maybe I'll actually make this with the cherries before I eat them all...

[Feta and Arepa]

Hi Adrienne! Really nice to meet you too! I have never made a clafoutis, and have been to... do you think I can make it with strawberries? I just went fruit picking last weekend and have a whole bunch of amazingly ripe strawberries left :)

[gastroanthropologist]

Feta and Arepa - Yes, of course. I've made this exact recipe using strawberries and its just as lovely. Unless they are really large I would try to leave them whole.

[Margo]

I'm glad I found your blog, as I have never heard of clafoutis - it looks tasty! Cherries are so expensive that I cannot stand to waste a single one. I just bought a bag, and if any make it past the fresh stage, I'm going to have to give this recipe a try.

[Tangled Noodle]

Thank you so much for sharing memories of your bad-ass Grandma - what a formidable woman! Your cherry clafoutis is a perfect tribute to her: sweet and soft surrounded by (cast)iron strength.

I'll borrow your advice to Lori and will have to make this with the raspberries I picked up yesterday!

[gastroanthropologist]

Tangled Noodle - A sweet and thoughtful comment, thank you.

[Sarah, Maison Cupcake]

Cherries always remind me of Wimbledon... pitting them in the kitchen to make sorbet whilst listening to Andy Murray matches on the radio.

I've never made a clafoutis but as I said on twitter the other day, I love the word, it sounds like a little sneeze!

[gastroanthropologist]

Well not sure if its the cherry clafoutis or the hay but I've been sneezing like crazy. Oh, cherry sorbet - sounds delicious. I love making cherry ice cream with chocolate swirl...

[Sasa]

Thanks for the amazing memory - it's easy to forget how life was just a short time ago. My great grandmother in Japan was killed by a bear while tilling fields in the mountains years before I was born - hard to imagine in this day and age. Love the clafoutis too, a favourite dessert of mine.

[gastroanthropologist]

Sasa - Oh my goodness about your great grandmother. Wow, could not even imagine. My grandfather was held captive by the North Koreans for three years...as I mentioned he was the captain of a fishing boat in South Korea and they thought he was a spy. He never talked about what happened to him during those three years...

[mycookinghut]

I love clafoutis... drooling now..

[Kitchen Butterfly]

I love clafoutis.....I've never had the boldness to make it with unpitted cherries, for broken teeth reasons!!!!!!! I love the skillet!

[Jamie]

Perfect, perfect clafoutis. I have to make one soon. Yours is beautiful! And what an amazing woman your grandmother is! Wonderful tribute.