Cherry Clafoutis
Clafoutis or cherry flan is traditional in the Limousin during the cherry season. It’s basically peasant cooking for family meals and a very easy dessert to make – a pancake batter poured over fruit in an fireproof dish, then baked in the oven. Don’t stone the cherries as they give the dish a wonderful flavour. You can substitute cherries for plums, prunes, pears, peaches or blackberries.
Serves 4-6
80g plain flour
a pinch of salt
200ml milk
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tbsp caster sugar
ripe cherries, (not too sweet if you can track them down)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp granulated sugar
Pre-heat the oven to 200º C/350ºF. Put flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and slowly pour in the milk and eggs, whisking to make a smooth batter, adding caster sugar.
Put the cherries in 24 cm ovenproof frying pan or similar size ovenproof dish, with the granulated sugar and dot with butter. Roast in the oven for about 10 minutes, then pour over the batter and bake for another 20 mins or until the batter has set.
Allow to stand for 20 mins and serve lukewarm.