Everybody Clafoutis!

Right now is cherry season in our neck of the woods and it probably is in your corner of the world too.

The French have the easiest and most delicious thing they do with cherries. Better yet, when you serve this recipe - clafoutis - to dinner guests or take it to a summer picnic, everyone will think you have been slaving over something complicated and exotic. I adore shortcuts like that, and French cuisine is full of them.

So, here is Franck's family recipe for homemade cherry clafoutis. I write about eating clafoutis often in my books because, quite simply, I ADORE it. So does everyone else.

Even though this is an extremely french recipe, it consists of ingredients you can find just as easily in North America or Britain as in France.

So…êtes-vous prêts de Clafoutis aussi?

Chez Germain Clafoutis aux Cerises (for 6-8 people)

Ingredients:

– 500 grams (3 cups) of black or sour cherries (freshly picked is best)

– 4 eggs

– 125 grams (2/3 cup) of white sugar

– a pinch of salt

– 80 grams (3/4 cup) of white flour

– 1/4 of a liter of milk

– 60 grams (1/4 cup) of butter

– 1 small package or one soup spoon of vanilla sugar (optional)

Instructions:

– Melt 30 grams (2 tablespoons) of the butter in microwave or small casserole. Set aside.

– Mix eggs together in medium sized bowl with fork. Add the salt, sugar and mix well.

– Pour in flour and mix again until there are no “lumps’ left. Don't overmix.

– Add the 30 grams (2 tablespoons) of melted butter and the milk. Mix again until smooth.

– Wash and remove the pits from the cherries if desired (Franck's mom does this, but I don''t Franck’s grandmother was firmly rooted in the “do not remove the pits’ camp – you can read about this ongoing war in My Grape Village) . Spread evenly on a well-buttered 9 x 13 baking dish (glass or porcelein preferable), a round dish, an oval dish, or basically the prettiest dish you have kicking around.

– Pour the liquid mixture over the cherries and then dot with the rest of the butter.

– Put in a 220 degree Celsius (425 Fahrenheit) oven for around 35-45 minutes, keeping an eye on it that it doesn’t start to burn.

– When you remove it from oven, sprinkle with package of vanilla sugar if available, otherwise your regular favorite sugar is A-OK. Serve at room temperature.

Clafoutis, like much of French cuisine, is a seasonal dish and made mainly in the summer to celebrate the bounty of cherry season. It can be made substituting other fruit, although that is less traditional than cerises. Apricots and pears work particularly well, but go wild and use your imagination.

Dégustez! Enjoy!

TWEET IT: A french clafoutis recipe from @Author_LB - make the most of all those cherries.

New French Playlist

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I've been busy concocting a second French playlist. This one isn't related directly to any of my books, but celebrates my favorite female french singers / musicians. I truly love it and have taken to listening to it when writing.

I have just made it public on Spotify.