Cherry Almond Clafoutis
We have a lot to be grateful for here at The Speckled Hen Inn. We have 20 acres of heaven that is only 10 minutes from downtown yet a world away from it all – in fact most people drive right past us because we’re so hidden and if it weren’t for their GPS they may not even find us! But when you come in, you will see the most beautiful, serene landscape of a brilliantly green pasture surrounded with trees, a white fence, and the happiest sheep and llama you will ever find. There are gardens, orchards, berry patches, and a vineyard that produces amazing fruits and vegetables. I still pinch myself and thank God every day that we actually get to live here – and I get to create breakfast for our guests every day with the harvest coming out of the garden all summer long. One of the new fruits we had this year – thanks to nets on our trees after learning the hard way last year – was cherries! I have never had a cherry tree and we have several that produced extremely well this year. So what do you do with cherries for breakfast? Well, one of the new dishes I discovered was a soufflé type dish called “Clafoutis” (it is French and pronounced “Clafutee”). I originally found several recipes online, which I do a lot, but always seem to change everything I find because it could use a little more or less of this and that. I thought I would share the recipe we created with you that everyone seems to really love and it’s easy to make. You can serve it as a starter at breakfast like we do – or you could serve it as a dessert after a dinner party – your choice and it comes out looking like you’re a pro! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do – and if you can grow your own cherry tree – it’s worth it!
Ingredients
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- 2 cups of fresh sweet cherries, pitted
- 2 tablespoons of blanched (no skins), toasted slivered almonds (or walnuts or pecans)
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour or GF flour (but it won’t poof as well)
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup of milk (I prefer to use half & half to get the poof)
- 1 teaspoon of almond extract (can sub 2 teaspoons of Amaretto)
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar for dusting
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Directions
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray square or round ramekin baking dishes! Scatter the cherries and slivered almonds over the bottom of the dish.
2 Whisk the eggs and sugars together until smooth. Whisk in the salt and flour until smooth.
3 Add the milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Pour into the baking dish over the cherries and slivered almonds.
4 Bake for 35-45 minutes or until lightly browned and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Also, if it’s poofed like a soufflé should be and it’s browned and beautiful on top, it’s done! Check about halfway through the baking and turn around. If the top is getting well browned tent it loosely with aluminum foil.
When you pull it put of the oven it will wiggle a bit which is normal. You can place on a wire rack to cool but the clafoutis will have puffed up quite a bit and will deflate while cooling so I like to place the ramekin on a cool small starter plate so guests can enjoy the beauty of it as well as the great taste – after all many of them take pictures and post them! Dust the clafoutis with powdered sugar. Serve.
