Recipes for Fruit Clafoutis

So often with French food people are too intimidated by hard-to-pronounce names and snooty chefs in tall hats to attempt making it at home. This is an unfortunate circumstance but, luckily, it can be fixed.

Though there are certainly many French classics that you would need a PhD in chemistry in order to duplicate, a dozen eager sous chefs and seven pounds of butter, there are also plenty that even the novice home cook can easily master. Clafoutis is a perfect example.

Pronounced "Kla-foo-tee," this French dessert is essentially batter poured over fresh fruit, traditionally cherries, and baked. You'd be hard-pressed to find a simpler end to your meal. Fortunately, as is so often the case, because of this simplicity the natural flavors of each ingredient are allowed to shine. It is so good, in fact, that when Marie Antoinette famously said "let them eat cake" it is probably because she didn't want the masses touching her clafoutis.

Classic Cherry Clafoutis
Ingredients You Will Need:
2 cups cherries, pitted
3 eggs
¾ cup sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Spread the cherries out in a greased and floured 9x9 baking dish. Using a whisk, beat the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the flour, and whisk to combine. Pour in the milk and vanilla, and whisk until the batter is homogenous. Pour over the cherries and bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Serve the clafoutis as is, or take the French theme even farther and serve it a la mode.

Mixed Berry Clafoutis
Ingredients You Will Need:
½ cup blueberries
½ cup blackberries
½ cup raspberries
½ cup sliced strawberries
¾ cup sugar
½ cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Make the clafoutis in the same way as above, except use the various berries instead of cherries.