Red, White & Blueberry

Berry Cherry Clafouti

prep time: 10 minutes + cherry pitting time ~ cooking time: about 1 hour

• 1 10″ x 10″ cast iron pan

• 2-3 cups of washed, pitted Cherries (a mix of Sour, Black, Ranier and Bing would be nice)
• 1 1/2 cups Milk
• 4 Eggs
• 1/3 cup + 1 tsp Sugar (I used half vanilla sugar and half brown sugar because a. I still haven’t bought vanilla extract and b. I still haven’t bought just plain old sugar)
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 3/4 cup Flour
• 2 oz Candied Ginger, chopped
• Butter

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Most recipes say to make the batter in a blender. I don’t have a blender so I beat this by hand.

To make the batter place the milk, eggs, sugar and salt into a bowl. Add the flour and carefully mix to incorporate. Once the danger of covering yourself in a cloud of flour is past, beat the batter vigorously for at least 2 minutes.

Butter the cast iron pan (all the way up the sides) and set the pan on the stove. Pour some of the batter into the pan to cover the bottom by about 1/4″ and place over a medium-low flame. Allow the batter to cook until just set. Turn off the flame.

Add the cherries to the pan to form a single layer (if your cherries are not very sweet or you prefer a sweeter dessert, sprinkle a little sugar over the berries now). Sprinkle the candied ginger over the berries then pour the rest of the batter into the pan. It should just cover the berries. If it doesn’t don’t panic. It’ll still turn out delicious.

Place the pan into the middle of the preheated oven and allow to cook until golden browned, puffy and set, about 1 hour. Mine made all sorts of noise while it was cooking, so don’t be alarmed if yours does too. The clafouti is done when a knife or wooden skewer can be inserted into the middle of the pastry and come out clean.

To serve: Bring the pan directly to the table so everyone can ooh and aah over its puffy magnificence. It will deflate nearly immediately so cut right into it and give each person a nice steamy wedge. Top with confectioners sugar or some freshly whipped cream. This is also delicious cold the next day for breakfast. Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from “French Clafouti of Bing Cherries” from Roy Andries de Groot’s 1966 Feasts For All Seasons.