Cherry Clafoutis
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Clafoutis is a simple French dessert that is part flan, part Dutch baby, and all parts délicieux!
Clafoutis (pronounced kla-foo-TEE) is a simple French dessert consisting of fruit, typically cherries, baked in a sweet, custard-like batter. The texture is unique and hard to describe — think of it as a cross between a fruit-filled flan and a Dutch baby. While cherries are the classic choice, clafoutis can also be made with other fruits, such as berries, plums, apricots, or apples. Similar to another French classic, crepes, clafoutis batter is a breeze to whip up in a blender, making pitting the cherries the most time-consuming step. Interestingly, some traditionalists swear by using stone-in cherries, claiming they add a subtle almond flavor. But who wants to spit out cherry pits (or, worse, crack a tooth!) while enjoying a lovely French dessert? As a workaround, I pit the cherries and add a dash of almond extract to capture that almond essence.
The secret to making a good clafoutis, in my opinion, is using a combination of milk and heavy cream for the custard batter. Most recipes call for just milk, but cream adds richness and ensures the clafoutis bakes up creamy rather than rubbery. Clafoutis can be served lukewarm or at room temperature, plain or dusted with powdered sugar.
What You’ll Need To Make Cherry Clafoutis
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by pitting the cherries. I use the Leifheit Cherry Stoner, and it makes quick work of the task.
Preheat the oven to 375°F and set an over rack in the middle position. Melt the butter in a 10-inch cast-iron or nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat.(Alternatively, if you don’t have the right skillet, melt the butter in the oven in a 2-quart baking dish.)
Swirl the butter so that it coats the sides the pan. Place the cherries in an even layer in the skillet (or baking dish).
In a blender, combine the eggs, milk, cream, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the flour, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
Mix on medium speed until smooth and well combined.
Pour the batter over the cherries.
Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the clafoutis from the oven and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Place back in the oven and continue baking until just set and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Note that clafoutis will wiggle just a bit when done, but a toothpick or knife inserted into the center should come out clean.
Let cool on a rack for about 30 minutes, then dust with powdered sugar (if using), and serve directly from the pan.
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Cherry Clafoutis
Clafoutis is a simple French dessert that is part flan, part Dutch baby, and all parts délicieux!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2½ cups (12 oz) cherries, stemmed and pitted
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup whole or 2% milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned into a measuring cup and leveled off
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- Melt the butter in a 10-inch cast-iron or nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. (Alternatively, if you don't have the right skillet, melt the butter in the oven in a 2-quart baking dish.) Swirl the butter so that it coats the sides the pan. Place the cherries in an even layer in the skillet (or baking dish).
- In a blender, combine the eggs, milk, cream, ½ cup of the sugar, the flour, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix on medium speed until smooth and well combined. Pour the batter over the cherries.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the clafoutis from the oven and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place back in the oven and continue baking until just set and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Note that clafoutis will wiggle just a bit when done, but a toothpick or knife inserted into the center should come out clean. Let cool on a rack for about 30 minutes, then dust with powdered sugar (if using), and serve directly from the pan.
- Leftover clafoutis will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 215
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Sugar: 23 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Sodium: 116 mg
- Cholesterol: 91 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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We just got home from Michigan and we had 2 1/2 cups of tart cherries. This was the perfect recipe for them. Delicious!!
Do you use sweet or sour cherries?
Sweet 🙂
Can this be made with blueberries or figs?
Sure, either will work. Enjoy!
I made this last night using blackberries instead. It turned out pretty and delicious!
It really is delicious and pretty easy as well. Thanks for the inspiration. I have always wanted to make a clafouti and your email arrived the morning after a bag of BC Okanagan cherries did.
Another great recipe from Jen. We have an abundance of wild plum trees on our property, so we used them instead of cherries. The almond extract was a nice touch. It was fantastic!
Phenomenal! Just because I had it, I did use half cream and half full fat buttermilk. This in not terribly sweet, which is a good thing, and the buttermilk gave it just the slightest tang. This will definitely be a go to dessert in cherry season. Thank you!
I didn’t have milk so subbed half&half. No heavy cream, subbed full fat Greek yogurt. Also no extracts, I used a quarter teaspoon of Chinese 5 Spice. Baked 40 minutes total. Probably not a true clafoutis, but definitely delicious!
Is the amount of cherries in the clafouti before or after they are pitted? Thanks so much!
Before they are pitted. 🙂
Thank you so very much for your reply; making it today as well as your recipe for Quiche Lorraine which is my go to for quiche. Merci beaucoup!
OMG! So glad I stumbled in your recipe when cruising the web for cherry dessert recipes.
Made this tonight with fresh ripe bing cherries and ate my first piece. Since I used a 12” cast iron pan, I made a 1.44 batch (a little tough when measuring eggs!) You have said this will keep for 3 days in the fridge. I suspect it won’t last 24 hours, let alone 3 days. It tastes too good – I am already eyeing seconds! Looks like I’ll be going to the farm tomorrow to get more cherries to freeze. I will want this recipe during the winter months.
Would it be ok to use sour cherries in this recipe? We had a bumper crop this year and I have pounds of them in the freezer!
Sure, Jennifer, that should be fine. Enjoy!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. My husband loved it too. Didn’t have the almond extract but it was fine without it.
Hi,
I have made many of your recipes with great success!
I have polish jarred dark cherries….will that work drained?
Thanks,
Lynne
Hi Lynne, I believe Polish cherries are pretty sour, so it should work but the clafoutis will be more tart. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Quick, tasty, and perfect for a special treat. Thank you for making recipes so accessible and great for everyone’s palette. I decided at 2 pm that I wanted to bake them something for 3 pm. I ended up with this clafoutis recipe and subbed berries (what I had on hand). I quizzed them on how they’d spell clafoutis. Fun and tasty!
Can I used frozen cherries instead?
Thanks !
Hi Medea, I would use fresh in-season cherries, but if you have good-quality frozen cherries, they will work too. Enjoy!
Would you recommend thawing them prior to using?
I think you can go either way, but I’d err on the side of thawing them.
If you don’t have a cherry pitter, can you cut the cherries in half to remove the pits, or will the juice add too much liquid to the batter? Thank you.
Sure, I think that should work; just keep in mind that your batter may turn a little pink. Hope you enjoy!
Lynn,
You can also poke through the cherries with a sturdy straw in the absence of a cherry pitter!
Hi Jenn,
I plan on making a half-batch this Saturday (tomorrow) and am wondering if an immersion blender would be ok to use or might it mix too fast? I know of someone who blended pancake batter with a mixer and they turned out like rubber tire patches instead of nice fluffy pancakes. Thanks for your time and expertise.
Rhonda
Hi Rhonda, I think the immersion blender should be okay. Just be careful to blend it until it’s well combined and no more than that. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Hi Jenn, Thanks so much for your help. I made a half-batch, used a 1.5Qt baking dish per your suggestion. I used my immersion blender at low (vs high) speed for very quick bursts, stopping and checking for smoothness after every pulse and it didn’t take much to get it smooth. The cooking time was a bit less. At 17 minutes after sprinkling with sugar, the cake tester came out clean and it was nice and brown like your pictures. The texture and flavor of the cooked batter was perfect. Not at all rubbery as I had feared. All my store had was fresh cherries from Chile. After I got them home and had the opportunity to taste them, they didn’t taste very cherry-like and it didn’t improve once cooked. Your batter stole the show. I might have been better off with a good quality frozen cherry or postponed until cherries were in season again. I will definitely try this again but be choosier about the cherries.
Thanks for reporting back – so glad it came out nicely! Frozen cherries will definitely work here as well if you can’t wait till cherry season. 🙂
Made this Recipe for company the other day. It was outstanding and a new way to use cherries. The texture is hard to describe but very tasty. Blending the ingredients is a big time saver. Thank You also for the Cherry Upside Down Cake Recipe. It’s so nice to have something new to make. Seeing that my husband loves his new Cherry pitter, I think we’ll be making these a lot. Thanks Again
This was amazing!!! I downsized the recipe to make in a little 4.5″ iron mini skillet. The final cook time after sprinkling the sugar on top was 8 minutes. This is so easy and light! Next I will try making it in my Lodge mini-cakes pan for potential when entertaining.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I may try it with various fresh berries.
Hi Jennifer
Looks delicious. Can I make this recipe with fresh raspberries? They are now in season and locally grown here in Quebec. Was wondering as they are more delicate that cherries. Thanks.
Hi Cynthia, raspberries should work nicely — hope you enjoy! 🙂
Wonderful! I’ve never had anything quite like it. my family loves cherries and we got some on sale this week, so I decided to try it. Everyone enjoyed it and I loved how easy it was!
Can this be made with dairy free milk?
Sure – enjoy! 🙂
Awesome! Maybe the first time I understood why the French like Clafoutis so much… Living in Europe I tried several Clafoutis recipes before. Well, it was just dough with some fruits…. This recipe is a game changer. It is so much better… LOVE IT!! Thank you Jenn!
Hi Jenn. What appliance would you recommend if you don’t have a blender- a mixer/food processor/hand mixing? Would that change the finished product’s texture? We’ve got fresh cherries, and this sounds like a good recipe to try. Thank you!
Hi Melissa, I’d just whisk it by hand; just make sure to whisk it very thoroughly to get the batter smooth. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Thank you, Jenn. It came out great! Though pitting the cherries takes some time, the rest was quick and easy. It’s rich and sweet, but not overly so. It would make a nice addition for a brunch buffet too.
Loved this recipe! Super easy, other than pitting the cherries! I’m excited to try it with other fruit as well. Definitely a keeper!
This was a surprisingly easy recipe to make, Thanks for sharing it; everyone liked it.
I didn’t have cherry pitter but will buy one. A search of the internet showed how to stick a cherry stem side down in a bottle and then push out the pit with a chopstick. It didn’t take any longer than it did to preheat the oven.
This looks delicious but don’t have cherries. I do have loads of red grapes – would those work instead?
I haven’t tried it, but I think it should work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
This recipe showed up just when I was wondering what to do with 2 1/2 lbs of Bing cherries. 2 cups of cherries filled my 9-inch pie pan, 1 cup of buttermilk pancake mix flavored with almond extract covered the cherries, and 30 minutes later out of the oven came a slightly browned cherry dessert. Thanks for such a delicious, timely recipe! It’s a keeper!
This looks delicious, but a full recipe is way too much for just me. Is there a way to downsize the recipe to perhaps two servings?
Hi Jo Ann, It may be hard to cut it down to 2 servings, but you could cut it in half. It keeps nicely in the fridge for 3 days so you can spread it out over those days. You can use a baking dish instead of a cast iron pan; I’d guesstimate a 1.5-quart baking dish would work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Jenn – I do not care for almond extract. Can I sub more vanilla extract or omits the almond extract? Thanks.
Hi Kathy, It’s perfectly fine to replace the almond extract with more vanilla. Enjoy!
Ok,
I’ve been put in the chief cook and cleaning position since I’ve become caregiver for my wife.
I’m learning how to pay attention to what goes in and out of the kitchen. Lol
I just gotta try this one! I’ll be a hero
Jenn,
Could you tell me how to use apples in this recipe? My family doesnt care for cherries and the apples would be great, Thank you so much.
Hi Kimberly, I would peel and thinly slice the apples and then sauté them in the butter for 4 to 5 minutes, until softened. Then you can just proceed with the recipe. I would use a tart baking apple, like Granny Smith, if you can. Hope that helps!
Hi Jenn,
Thank you so much for responding to me. I am going to make this over the weekend. I will let you know how it turns out… after I most likely eat all of it🤣😂
Take care
Should frozen cherries be thawed before use?
Yes 🙂
Delicious! I love this and so does my husband who usually only likes chocolate. He likes cherry pie so thought I would give it a try. Easy and quick. I have a hand held cherry pitter which did the job quickly. Thanks for such a lovely dessert!
Could this recipe be halved? I’m cooking for 2 people and it’s really too much for us.
Sure, Linda – I would just use a smaller skillet or baking dish.
Do you recommend sweet cherries or tart cherries? Tart cherries from Door County, Wisconsin are in season and they are spectacular in cherry pie. Thank you.
Hi Mary, I use sweet cherries but I think tart will work, too, as the clafoutis is quite sweet.
Thaw frozen cherries first?
Yep 🙂
Hi Jen, can I use peaches or nectarines since I don’t have cherries? Will that make a difference in baking time since I don’t want the fruit to be mushy. Thanks
Hi Marianne, I think you can use either peaches or nectarines without any other modifications. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Looks Delicious but 29 g of Carbs for only one serving, YIKES!! For Keto followers, its way to much. But I do Love your marinades for grilled chicken!! The Best I’ve ever had & tender !!!
Hi Jennifer, I just came back from France and loved having clafoutis there. Was excited to see this recipe! I’ve never pitted cherries before and not sure I want to buy a tool for this. Can we sub in frozen already pitted cherries for the fresh ones? If yes, should they be thawed first? Love your recipes and hope I can make this one work!
Hi Allen, For best results, I would use fresh in-season cherries, but if you have good-quality frozen cherries, they will work too. You could also try it with other fruits, like plums or berries.
Hi Allen:
I remove stem on fresh cherries, then use a hard plastic straw to pit the cherry. Works like a charm.
wondering if could use frozen cherries in place of fresh and if anything would need to be adjusted to be able to make year around
Hi Nancy, I’ve made this with both. Fresh cherries are best but frozen works, too.
Looks amazing – would it work with raspberries or plums ? Thx
Yes, I think either would work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it with either of these!