Cherry Clafouti…Gesundheit

Clafoutis definition:  Baked French dessert of fruit, traditionally black cherries, arranged in a buttered dish, and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The Clafoutis is dusted with powdered sugar, served warm and sometimes served with cream.

Gesundheit: used to wish good health, especially to one who has just sneezed.

I have made Clafoutis before, but with peaches or berries, which I guess isn’t really, technically, a clafoutis.  I also read somewhere that traditional Clafoutis are made with the pits still in the cherries.  When I discovered that we had no cherry pitter in the house and I couldn’t find one in a couple of stores I looked in, I felt like leaving the pits in.

And then, I found instructions for a homemade cherry pitter (above).  Yes, it is an empty beer bottle and a pencil. I felt so clever with this invention for the first couple of cherries that were easily pitted.

Then…

It began to get a bit messy.  And by the time I was done, it looked like a murder scene.

The cherry slaughter was the hardest part of making the clafoutis.  The rest was pretty easy.

Butter and sugar the pie plate and dump in the pitted cherries.

Then, mix up the flan batter and pour over the top.

I put the plate on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet (in case of spills) and pop into the oven.

The great thing about this clafoutis is that it does not contain wheat flour, so it is gluten free.  We also used a sugar substitute because Yes!Chef! and I have given up sugar along with most starches.  And that is also why I did not dust the final product with powdered sugar. However, the recipe I have here includes real sugar, so you can decide if you want to use sugar or substitute some other sweetener.

While we were waiting for the Clafoutis to cool, Obie and I went for an evening walk down by the lake (Lake Tahoe). Yes!Chef! had to work his day job, so he wasn’t able to join us until the weekend.

One of the things I love about Lake Tahoe (and, admittedly, I love just about everything) is the ever-changing sunset.

 

I was a little surprised that the beach was so empty of people, but Obie and I were happy to enjoy the sunset alone.

I let Obie wade into the water a little (he doesn’t swim) and then we sat down on the beach and enjoyed the show.

Finally, we had to leave but I was able to take one this last shot.

I love this place.

The Clafoutis was very good.  I enjoyed it with a little whipped cream and I served it at room temperature.  The ginger gives it a bit of a zing, and the buttermilk makes it tangy.

Here’s the recipe.  We lightly adapted it from the Epicurious Special Publication: 142 Summer Favorites.

Cherry Buttermilk Clafoutis

serves 6

• 1/2 cup natural sugar substitute or cane sugar
• 2 cups sweet cherries, pitted
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup almond flour
• 2 Tbsp. brown rice flour
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger
• Fine sea salt
• Powdered sugar, for dusting, optional

The rest of the recipe can be found here.

The dessert has a nice almond flavor and the fresh ginger really makes this dessert a stand-out. It’s very easy to make, assuming you have a cherry pitter.  But, you can always try my homemade cherry pitter.  (Note:  wear a full apron or hazmat suit.)

Enjoy!  Or, maybe I should say Gesundheit (To your health!)