clafouti on my mind

Sunday, August 16, 2009


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



18 comments:

  1. It looks delicious, Susan. I haven't had fresh cherries in so long, I've forgotten how good they can be. I never heard of clafouti but it sounds and looks wonderful. <3

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  2. Yummy for the tummy...mmm...You seem to have a gr8 flavor for fruits, food and fotos...(photos!)..
    Amazing!!
    Cherries look delicious..
    Keep writing.:)

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  3. just looking at those pictures, I can taste the cherries already! We're big fans of shopping for food by the season, the way Mother Nature intended, so I'm pumped for cherry season !

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  4. Clafouti reminds me of a time I was a nanny for an American family who were here in Australia for a while. He was an executive chef for a large hotel chain. She had to return to the U.S. for work. I used her recipe for the children. I can still hear clafouti said in that accent.

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  5. p.s. yours looks delicious!!

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  6. I have never had it, Susan. But now I will be craving it all day. LOL! Maybe I'll give it a whirl. :) And I agree about the cream.

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  7. Susan, I hear you on the early morning! Believe it or not I woke the chickens up this morning! They were still on the roost when I went down to feed them! HA! I made a Cherry Cobbler yesterday and we had it hot with Vanilla ice-cream on top! YUMMY! Love to you and the gang!

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  8. O MY! How delicious!!! You and Carol @ The Writers Porch are inspiring me to put on my apron this morning! Thank you for sharing!!!!

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  9. Cooking on days like this, in early mornings, somehow it seems to pull me deeper into the rising day. Like by working with food I am emptying out yesterday and melting the distance between me and now. Does that make sense?

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  10. Hi,
    that sounds delicious. I had never heard of that recipe before, must give it a try this summer.
    Yesterdays landscape photos were amazing.

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  11. You know I get so caught up in my peach and blackberry obsession that I totally ignore the cherries. Not anymore with Susan on the job. Claflouti I shall try. By the way I have fork envy.

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  12. I think mom left to go buy cherries (her favorite)
    Benny & Lily

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  13. That looks so good!! As luck would have it, a friend just brought me some blueberries and fresh eggs from his farm! Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow!! Thanks, Susan!!

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  14. Looks HEAVENLY! Can't wait to try it here at my place!

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  15. I've never heard of Clafouti (and I'm glad your recipe had the pronunciation). I guess it's kind of like a fried tart. Looks simple enough that I may give it a whirl. But maybe with some peaches or apples. We'll have a lot of both available in the next few weeks. Your cherry clafouti looked really good.

    Nice job and Happy DSS!

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  16. I LOVE clafouti. In fact.... I just clipped out a recipe for one using rhubarb! How good will that be?! The same tart bite of cherries.

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  17. anything baked with cherries has got to be good, right?!

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