clafouti on my mind

it's cherry season

I can hear waves hitting the rocks along the harbour's edge this morning. And the flags in the park flapping hard in the warm wind coming off the water. The sounds of the waves, the wind, the gulls and the constant August hum of crickets and that warm breeze tis blowing through this old brick house - I love this time of day, the peace and the quiet. It's now still very dark at 5:30 am, those darn seasons they just keep on changing before our very eyes. Early morning is when I always feel full of hope and promise.

A favourite past time of mine, especially when I have a kazillion other far more important and necessary things I should, must or need to be doing is to totally ignore that big pile of things and cook instead. Cooking has always been a comfort to me, it's not even the eating part at the end of it all - it is simple the joy of cooking. I had a pound of fresh cherries* in the fridge, eggs, milk, sugar, butter and clafouti on my mind.

Have you been noticing the abundance of clafouti recipes popping up everywhere around the blogosphere. Here & here also here and here.

I used this recipe from the joy of baking - melt a small amount of butter in an oven proof shallow casserole in a 425 oven for 1 min. Swish the melted butter all around the dish and up the sides and then add the cherries and 2 tbsps of sugar, back in the oven while the fruit begins to cook and caramelize for 2 -3 mins. more. Bring the casserole or quiche dish out of the oven and pour the batter, which you've just whipped up in a blender - basically a crepe batter, over and around all the hot bubbly caramel fruit and back into the hot oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar. In a perfect world I would serve this with a dollop of whipped cream because I believe every dessert is better with a dollop of whipped cream.

* after halving and pitting my cherries I tossed them with 1/2 tsp almond extract and 1 heaping tsp of finely grated lemon zest.

The possibilities of fruit substitutions are endless - blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, apples, plums, pears, figs with freshly grated ginger. I was even dreaming up savoury versions with sauteed mushrooms, chunks of pan crisped ham, green onions and grated Gruyere cheese.

I would definitely say that this simple recipe counts as Child's Play - this week's Dim Sum Sunday theme over at The Karmic Kitchen