Cherry Clafoutis
Cherry Buttermilk Clafoutis (Photo credit: Julia Bainbridge)
CLA-FOO-TISS.
Not how it’s pronounced.
CLA-FU-TEE.
There you go. Now that is what we know as the fruity, so-custardy-it’s-almost-flan dessert.
As you might imagine, the word hails from France, particularly the south, where in the Occitan dialect, the verb clafir means “to fill.” ”Clafoutis” has a way of rolling off the tongue—once you’ve got the proper pronunciation down, anyway—so jauntily that it almost springs forward, as if your mouth is a diving board. Thankfully, though, when it comes to this treat, the mouth is more like a pool, ready to cup the sweet mixture of cream, sugar, vanilla, and stone fruit.
Kimberly Hasselbrink’s recipe from Vibrant Food largely replaces the clafoutis’s traditional milk with buttermilk and flour with almond meal, making it a smidge healthier—and gluten-free, if you opt for rice flour (see the recipe).
So make it tonight, if not because you deserve to show off that you’ve learned a new term, then because it’s Monday.
CHERRY-BUTTERMILK CLAFOUTIS
by Kimberley Hasselbrink
Serves 6
½ cup natural cane sugar
16 ounces sweet cherries, pitted
3 eggs
1¼ cups buttermilk
⅓ cup almond flour
2 tablespoons brown rice or all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch pie pan with unsalted butter. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the sugar.
Arrange the cherries in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, remaining sugar, almond flour, brown rice flour, vanilla, ginger, and salt until smooth. Pour evenly over the fruit.
Bake for about 50 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and set in the center. Test by inserting a toothpick in the center—if it comes out clean, the clafoutis is ready.
Allow to cool slightly, then dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve.
Reprinted with permission from Vibrant Food written and photographed by Kimberley Hasselbrink (Ten Speed Press, © 2014).
