Cherry clafoutis

There is no better way of celebrating the rich, dark beauty of fresh cherries than in a simple clafoutis – a pastry-less flan studded with fruit that is served hot from the oven, ideally accompanied with the best vanilla ice-cream. Guillaume’s recipe has almond meal in the batter, and his tip is to pour it over the cherries after you’ve put the dishes on the shelf in the oven, so you’re not trying to steady full dishes of runny mixture.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 120 g almond meal
• 30 g cornflour
• 200 g caster sugar
• pinch of sea salt
• 4 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
• 2 ½ tbsp cream
• 60 g butter, melted and cooled
• 28 cherries, pitted
• icing sugar, to dust
• vanilla bean ice cream, to serve

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Combine the almond meal, cornflour, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well.

 

Whisk the eggs and egg yolks in a separate bowl. Continue whisking while you add the cream and melted butter. Gradually add the almond mixture, whisking constantly until thoroughly combined.

 

Lightly butter four shallow individual dishes of around 12 cm diameter (alternatively you could use one large shallow 21cm baking or tart dish). Divide the cherries evenly between the dishes. Ladle the batter over the cherries, filling to near the top of the dishes. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes (see Note), or until the batter is no longer sticky when tested with a skewer or knife.

 

Allow the clafoutis to cool slightly, then dust with icing sugar and serve with scoops of vanilla bean ice cream.

Note

• If baking in a larger baking dish, cook for 30 minutes or until golden and set.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.