Cherry Clafoutis: a Summer French Classic

Yes, I know what you are going to think as soon as you see this..."Another clafoutis??"...Yes, I know, a lot of bloggers have posted this...but ever since my blog was born...only six months ago (it's a small baby!), I have been dreaming of posting my clafoutis, not because it is an example of culinary mastery ( it is SO easy to make), not because it is a photographic "plus ultra", but because I love it and it takes normally no more of five minutes to make....!

But it also happened that this past Wednesday, my girls wanted to go and have a picnic in the afternoon, in the Bois de Boulogne...there are no classes in France on Wednesday afternoons, so I said: "OK, when you come back from school, mummy will have a clafoutis ready" But....it just happened what nearly always happens here...it rained !!! so my girls found their clafoutis ready on the dining table, but we could hardly see it, so dark was our apartment "thanks" to the Parisian clouds....Their faces of disappointment is something I can hardly resist, so I said (in one of my typical grandiloquent quotations): "To big problems, big solutions"...(??!!!) "Tragedies in life have to faced with dignity, and above all..elegance..." Have you seen these old Hollywood  divas that went through the most heart-breaking situations, in their magnificent gowns, not one hair out of place, not a smear of make-up after crying for hours???? So, we decided to have the picnic at home, paying attention to all the deco details...even dressed for the ocassion !! (notice the little hearts in my daughter C's shirt....don't they match the color of the cherries?) 

You must have read that some people say it is better not to pit the cherries, to keep the scent of almond....I must admit that I did once, and I did not feel a radical change of taste...besides, people felt uncomfortable getting  rid of the seeds, plus I had to warn them several times not to bite the cherries because the seed was in...too much stress for me! Here,  since the clafoutis was for my children, I did not hesitate about it !!

What's more, the night before, my daughters had engaged in their argument number 87 of the day, so I told my youngest daughter M: "You come to the kitchen to pit the cherries..." (It is incredible what a mind-clarifying effect hard work has on teenagers!!), and to my  daughter M: "You go sort out your wardrobe" (Yes....we are not so lucky here in Paris...old Hausmannian buildings don't have walk-in closets...they have old fashioned "armoires"!!!)

"Again?", my daughter complained. "It's in perfect order" Well, there....I must admit, I thought again about the Hollywood divas...."Stay calm and chic", I said to myself! Nevertheless, I gave  her a kind of Bette Davis menacing look, and she immediatly understood the message.....

Yes !!! The happiest family events are always preceded by some sort of "spicy tension"....but that   helps to make clafoutis tastier !!! Don't you agree?

Enjoy it !!!

Now for the recipe......


To make this Cherry Claufoutis, you will need:

 *cherries, 400gr (pitted or not)
 *milk, 150ml
 *cream (light), 200ml
 * vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon
 * sugar, 100gr
 * all purpose flour, 100gr
 * eggs, 4
 * butter, 50gr (melted)
 * icing sugar
 * brown sugar

Pre-heat oven (180°C). Butter a mold (here I used a 23cm one) Sprinke it with brown sugar. Wash the cherries and rinse them. Pit them (or not) Whisk the milk, cream, the vanilla extract, the eggs, the sugar, the melted butter and flour until well combined. Pour the batter in the mold, and then place the cherries evenly. Bake 40' aprox until golden brown. Serve warm sprinkled with icing sugar.