Cherry Clafoutis
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Clafoutis is one of the easiest ways to make the most of cherry season—a quick batter, a pile of fruit, and you’ve got a charming French dessert that feels special.
Clafoutis (pronounced kla-foo-TEE) is a simple French dessert made by baking fruit in a sweet, custardy batter. The texture is wonderful yet hard to describe—think of it as somewhere between a flan and a Dutch baby. Cherries are the classic choice, but you can make it with all kinds of fruit: berries, plums, apricots, even apples. Like crepes, the batter comes together in seconds in a blender, so the only real work is pitting the cherries.
Many traditional recipes actually call for leaving the pits in, with the idea that they add a subtle almond flavor. But who wants to spit out cherry pits (or, worse, crack a tooth!) at the dinner table? As a workaround, I pit the cherries and add a dash of almond extract instead. Same flavor, minus the fuss.
My trick for a really good clafoutis is using both milk and heavy cream in the batter. Most recipes call for just milk, but a little cream makes the texture extra rich and silky instead of rubbery. Serve it warm or at room temp, plain or with a dusting of powdered sugar.
“A great dessert to make when cherries are in season! I’ve made a few versions of clafoutis in the past but this one is my new favorite!”
What You’ll Need To Make Cherry Clafoutis
- Unsalted butter – For greasing the pan and adding rich flavor to the base of the dessert.
- Cherries – Sweet varieties like Bing or Rainier are great, but tart cherries work too if you prefer a bit more tang. Just be sure they’re stemmed and pitted.
- Eggs, milk, and cream – Form the base of the custard. The eggs give it structure, while the combination of milk and cream makes it rich and silky.
- Flour and salt – The flour gives the clafoutis body and a slight puff; the salt balances the sweetness.
- Sugar – Sweetens the custard and adds a light crust when sprinkled on top.
- Vanilla and almond extracts – Add warm, aromatic flavor; the almond plays especially well with cherries.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Pit the cherries. I use the Leifheit Cherry Stoner, and it makes quick work of the task. If you don’t have a cherry pitter, you can press the pits out with a metal straw, chopstick, or even a pastry tip. Or, just slice the cherries in half and twist them apart to remove the pits by hand. It’s a little messier and takes a bit more time, but it works.
Step 2: Melt the butter. Preheat the oven to 375°F and set a rack in the center. Place the butter in a 10-inch cast-iron or nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat and swirl it around so it coats the sides of the pan. (If you don’t have the right skillet, no problem—just pop a 2-quart baking dish in the oven with the butter until it melts.)
Step 2: Layer the cherries. Place the pitted cherries in an even layer in the skillet (or baking dish).
Step 4: Whip up the batter. In a blender, combine the eggs, milk, cream, ½ cup of the sugar, flour, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Blend on medium speed until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
Step 5: Assemble and bake. Pour the batter evenly over the cherries. Carefully slide the skillet into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the top is just set.
Step 6: Sprinkle with sugar. Take the clafoutis out of the oven and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly over the top. This gives it a light, golden crust as it finishes baking.
Step 7: Finish baking. Return the clafoutis to the oven and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until it’s golden brown and just set. It should still have a slight jiggle, but a toothpick or knife inserted in the center should come out clean. Let it cool on a rack for about 30 minutes, then dust with powdered sugar (if using), and serve directly from the pan. Enjoy!
You May Also Like
Cherry Clafoutis
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 (190°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- Melt the butter in a 10-in (25-cm) 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-qt baking dish.) Swirl the butter so that it coats the sides of 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 (100 g) 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.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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.
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
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!
Hi! Could I make the batter 24 hours ahead of time, and keep it in the fridge?
Sure, that should be fine.
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 frozen cherries 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!
Thanks for the tip about using a straw. I happen to have a stainless steel straw and will try putting the cherries with this!
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.