Clafoutis – (pronounced Kla-foo-tee) is a kind of baked fruity custard dessert, mine here done with the dark bing cherries and apricots.
What is a Clafoutis, one might ask? A lovely way to celebrate and showcase summer I would say – subtle, light, airy sweet bites richly studded with juicy fruits and the so wonderful flavor of almond.
But that would explain nothing, so I have to use the formal definition: “Clafoutis, sometimes in Anglophone countries spelled clafouti, is a baked French dessert of black cherries arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The clafoutis is dusted with powdered sugar and served lukewarm……The dish’s name derives from Occitan clafotís from the verb clafir, meaning “to fill” (implied: “the batter with cherries”).” (Wiki)
But there appears to be a twist to the Clafoutis called the Flaugnarde/ flagnarde/flognarde/ flougnarde. Flaugnarde is a Clafoutis made with any fruit other than the cherries. This is what Clotilde Dusoulier speaks of Clafoutis in Sweetness of Spring: Strawberry Clafoutis: “…unpretentious, easy to make, and blissfully comforting…The fluffy custard, light as a cloud and studded with fruit, hails from the Limousin region in the heart of France, where each family has its own well-guarded recipe. Clafoutis is most classically made with cherries — leaving the pits in for maximum flavor and a nice jaw workout “.
Summer comes and I start seeing clafoutis everywhere – recipes with very beautiful pictures. But when I encountered the pretty one in Susan’s FoodBlogga, I had made up my mind and in a few days I made mine, a little differently but following almost all of her recipe, with no pits of course, for I cannot interrupt the pleasure of the dessert while I ungraciously spit out the pits. However I think I do understand why the cherry pits are left in there, surely not a sign of laziness. The pits have that wonderful nutty flavor, which in modern times are substituted with Amaretto or the almond extract.
The extraordinary summer in all her gorgeousness brought me some
Sunshine – The Apricots
and the Sweet Luscious Bing Cherries
How could I not not give ourselves some Clafoutis/Flaugnarde?
I did make the dessert as you can see, but for so long was pretty hesitant to post it. Mine did not look nearly as pretty as the others 😉 The powdered sugar was forgotten in the pictures, which quickly took away the dreamy appeal. We did remember to do the fairy dust before we ate.
I baked them in 4 ramekins (as tiny individual servings for the 4 of us) and the rest in a cake tin.
Cherry and Apricot Clafoutis
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cup fresh sweet cherries, pitted
- 1 cup apricots, stone taken out and chopped into small pieces
- 5 tablespoons of slivered almonds
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup of sugar
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk/or half and half
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons Amaretto OR 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- confectioners sugar for dusting
Preparation:Pit and half the cherries.
Remove the stone from the apricots and chop them in small pieces.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the small baking dishes/ramekins with butter, or coat well with cooking spray. Toss in the cherries, apricots, and slivered almonds.
In a bowl, whisk eggs, zest, sugar, flour, and salt until well combined and smooth.
Add milk, Amaretto/almond extract, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Pour into the ramekins/baking dish.Bake for 40-45 minutes or until puffed and lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. When you pull it out of the oven it will be wiggly but it will set when cooler. Place on a wire rack to cool. The clafoutis will have puffed up quite a bit and will deflate while cooling. When cool, dust the clafoutis with confectioners’ sugar if you want.
Serve lukewarm.
A faboulous Flaugnarde/Clafoutis which disappeared in no time. Not overly sweet, fruity and very right for the season.
Related Posts:
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I do like clafoutis. Actually, I should make some soon with my poached quinces 🙂
Adore the Clafoutis. It looks amazing!
That looks so colorful and summery! A perfect light dessert!
Looks delightful….treat to eyes….loved it
so colorful & full of summer….would love to eat it any time….yesterday only saw it on Deeba’s blog & immediately decided that I have to make this & now it’s here also, really getting hungry for this……
One more colorful yummy dessert from you. Dekhe khoob darun lagche….
Hamaree Rasoi
ummmmm
I saw this recently on Yum Factor too – in both yours and hers I admire the bursting colours of the dihs – looks so so good!
I love a good clafoutis… this one is yum! Just made a stone fruit chocolate one… love your take on it too!
A refreshing and light dessert to indulge in. Great clicks and beautiful presentation.
Fabulous little clafoutis! An exquisite combination!
Cheers,
Rosa
amio ebare clafoutis baniechilam. ato bhalo hoechilo khete je ar chobi tola hayni. tabe ekhane je cherry paoa jay seta besh tak anek chini dite hay. tomarta darun dakhache …ki colourful. atobhalo chobi tolo tumi dekhlei khete iche kore.
i’ve never tried clafoutis, you sure make me want to make some
Too beautiful.I truly wish I were there when you took this out of oven.Too delicious is looks. 😛 😛 😛 😛
Lovely! I have made Strawberry and Almond Clafoutis and love having them warm and gooey. I have a bagful of fresh cherries lying at home, you inspire me with your Clafoutis.
This is the prettiest Calfouti I have seen this season. I love the idea of baking it in small ramekins. They are definitely a Summer feast.
Lovely, Soma. Such a beautiful and truly comforting summer dessert. I love the cherry and apricot combination. I can almost smell the amazing aroma.
Oh man, that superb – looks awesome.
Looks Delicious….
Those do look delightful. Who says they don’t look pretty and appealing Soma? They make my mouth water!!
I like your description of clafoutis better then the one in wikipedia..lol… It’s looks gorgeous and indeed very summery!
Another must try for me Soma .. eta toh besh easy mone hocche. 🙂
Ekhane fresh cherries beshi mishti hoye na .. ami ki candied ba preserved cherries and dry apricots use korte pari?
Sharmila, canned cherries will work too. But if you are keen on using fresh fruits, go ahead and use any kind you want, berries fruits – pears, walnuts, apple, any berries – basically anything will work.
I am not usually such a fan of clafouti but I find yours irresistible!Love the apricots and cherries combo!
Oh beautiful cherries! I want 2 servings of the clafoutis. 🙂
I love the addition of apricots. If you’re into smaller sized clafoutis, you might be interested in this muffin tin mixed berry clafoutis I just made: http://www.muffintinmania.com/2010/07/clafoutis-with-mixed-berries.html
[…] somaR added apricots and almonds to the traditional cherries to make this light and airy Cherry and Apricot Clafoutis […]
Looks so delicious, sweet and light. While it’s no longer summer here I’m sure I could make these for a winter night. Great post and photos!