Cherry Clafoutis

Don't you wish that life is always a big bowl of cherries? Most of the time I feel this way or convince myself that it is anyway... But there are moments when it just isn’t a big bowl of cherries.

Take for example yesterday. Just as I was grabbing my purse, keys, and my beautiful clafoutis to head out the door, DFJ's electric razor started whirring. I got so mad that I was so upset with myself for getting so mad. You know the mad kind of mad where ugly things come out of your mouth? We were supposed to be at our friends' house at 4 and it was already 4 and he decides to shave! He had over an hour to do this but he chose to do unnecessary things instead and shaved at the very last minute. Why? Who knows why...

After letting my steam off with the girls at the party, I started feeling better. Good to know that all men have their own little quirks that annoy us women to death but also make us love them all the same.

After seeing all the food I was about to devour, the shaving-at-the-last-minute incident was quickly forgotten... This is what you get when you have a gathering of Americans, a Filipino, a Russian, a Trinidadian, a Romanian, an Iranian, and Indians.

This Cherry Clafoutis was my offering to the party.

I enjoyed every minute of baking it. It started with a lovely scent wafting from my pot. Have you ever smelled cherries, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest cooking in butter? Oh, heavenly... This should totally be a candle scent. Cinnamon Cherry Butter?

Let’s talk about the almond cake. It is dense and the heavy texture made for a rustic cake that lent the subtle taste of almonds. The cherry juice sweetened the cake and everything was made even better by delicious bites of the decadent cooked, cherries.

After big, summer parties where we all stuff ourselves silly, this clafoutis is something we need for dessert. It was a definite crowd pleaser at my friends' Fourth of July party.

Cherry Clafoutis

Slightly adapted from Skye Gyngell's Clafoutis, My Favorite Ingredients

3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/3 pounds sweet cherries (I used Bing), washed and stemmed (pitting cherries not necessary)
scant 1/3 cup ultrafine sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
scant 1 cup ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream
sea salt

Heat the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat until it starts to bubble. Throw in the cherries, 1/3 cup sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Let cook for about 14 minutes or until the cherries soften. Stir every now and then. Remove from heat and set aside.

Whisk together ground almonds and flour.

 
Using an electric hand mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Pour in the vanilla and heavy cream and continue to beat on low until well combined. Add the ground almond and flour mixture and beat on low until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt. Ideally, until soft peaks form, if you can't make this happen like me, that's ok. Keep beating on low and gradually change the speed to high until it foams on top.

Move the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Using a flexible spatula, carefully stir in the egg whites into the batter until evenly incorporated.

Generously coat a round, glass pie dish with butter. Using a slotted spoon, move 3/4 of the cherries into the pie dish. The rest of the cherries and the juice will be used as topping when the clafoutis is done baking.

Dollop the batter over the cherries and try to spread it on evenly. This is tricky because the cherries are quite plump and the batter is thick. Spread as best as you can. You don't have to make it look perfect, it's prettier that way.

Bake for 28-30 minutes until the batter puffs up and turns a nice, golden brown.

Let the clafoutis cool for about 5 minutes and drizzle the top with the rest of the cherries and the juice.

This is traditionally served warm... So if possible, do this.

Light, lovely, summery... A perfect way to celebrate life, friendship, love, summer, Fourth of July, and of course: cherries!