Cherry Clafoutis

Cherry lovers, rejoice! This simple and classic French cherry clafoutis recipe features fresh cherries baked in a custard with slivered almonds. Dust lightly with powdered sugar.

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
Updated June 02, 2023
Elise Bauer
Cherry Clafouti Dusted With Powdered Sugar in a White Baking Dish

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Have you ever made a clafoutis? My friend Garrett McCord taught me how to make this classic French treat years ago. It's one of the easiest desserts you can make, especially if you find yourself with extra cherries or berries on hand.

What Is Cherry Clafoutis?

It's a custard of sorts, a firm custard, one with enough structure to support a lot of fruit. The basic ingredients are sugar, eggs, flour, and fruit. Easy! For this cherry clafoutis, we've also included some vanilla extract, almond extract, and blanched almonds.

Right out of the oven this clafoutis looks a little like a battlefield of cherries. Which is why I think one sprinkles powdered sugar over it before serving. Anything can be made pretty with powdered sugar, right?

As Garrett says, "If you're a fan of desserts with little work and a lot of payoff, then clafoutis is the way to go." Agreed!

Cherry Clafouti Dusted With Powdered Sugar in a White Baking Dish

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Cherry Clafoutis vs. Cherry Cobbler

Clafoutis is like a custard with fruit in it, but unlike a traditional custard, it has flour in it that gives it more structure. A cobbler is baked fruit with a topping of dropped biscuits or other dough. They're both delicious ways to use up cherries.

How to Pit Cherries

Traditionally, a French cherry clafoutis contains fruit with pits. We prefer to eat this treat without pits. No cherry pitter? No problem. You can smack a cherry with the flat side of a knife blade to pop the pit out, dig the pit out with a paper clip, poke the pit out with a chopstick, or invert a pastry tip onto a cutting board and push the cherry down on it.

Fresh vs. Frozen Cherries

Fresh cherries work better for this recipe because they'll give more flavor, but you can use frozen cherries if that's what you have to work with. Defrost and drain the cherries then pat them dry before adding them to the dish.

How to Store Clafoutis

Store covered clafoutis at room temperature for two days or refrigerate tightly covered up to four days.

More Cherry Dessert Recipes to Love 

From the Editors Of Simply Recipes

Cherry Clafoutis

Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Servings 6 servings

Traditional clafoutis is made with cherries that still have their pits. The pits give some almond flavor to the dish. But prepared that way can be a little more difficult to eat, so in this recipe, we've pitted the cherries first. You can leave them in if you want.

Note that the texture of clafoutis is like a sturdy custard, so if it feels a little rubbery, that's just how it's supposed to be.

Feel free to reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup if you are working with very sweet cherries, or would prefer a less sweet clafoutis.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted

  • 2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds

  • 3 large eggs

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (can reduce to 1/4 cup)

  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar

  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1 cup whole or 2% milk

  • 3/4 teaspoon almond extract (can sub 2 teaspoons of amaretto)

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • Powdered sugar, for dusting

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Prepare the dish:

    Butter and lightly flour a 9x9-inch or 10x7-inch baking dish. Scatter the cherries and slivered almonds over the bottom of the dish.

    cherry and almonds for clafoutis
    Elise Bauer
  3. Make the batter:

    Whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until combined. Whisk in the salt and flour until smooth. Then whisk in the milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract.

    Cherry clafoutis batter in bowl with whisk
    Elise Bauer
  4. Pour batter into the dish:


    Pour the batter into the baking dish over the cherries and slivered almonds.

    cherry clafoutis batter
    Elise Bauer
  5. Bake:

    Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes or until lightly browned and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Check about halfway through the baking, and if the top is getting well browned, tent it loosely with aluminum foil.

    Baked cherry clafoutis
    Elise Bauer
  6. Remove from the oven to cool:

    When you pull it out of the oven, it will wiggle a bit, which is normal. Place on a wire rack to cool. The clafoutis will have puffed up quite a bit and will deflate while cooling.

  7. Dust with powdered sugar:

    When cool, dust the clafoutis with powdered sugar. Serve.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
223 Calories
5g Fat
38g Carbs
6g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 223
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 6%
Saturated Fat 2g 8%
Cholesterol 97mg 32%
Sodium 96mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 38g 14%
Dietary Fiber 2g 5%
Total Sugars 28g
Protein 6g
Vitamin C 3mg 17%
Calcium 75mg 6%
Iron 1mg 7%
Potassium 227mg 5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.