French Cherry Clafoutis Tart

I bought a gorgeous bag of glistening wine-colored cherries at the store, and even as I was eating them by the handful, I was dreaming of what I could make with them. You may be saying shame on me for cooking up beautiful fresh cherries, but I can't help it. You know me, Dear Reader. I'm obsessed with desserts.

I had wanted to try a clafoutis for a while, because it sounded a bit similar to the cobbler batter that comes from my moma's side of the family. In our family recipe you pour the batter over melted butter and then throw in fruit and it bakes up cakey and custardy at the same time. Interested? See here for some variations- blackberry peach cobbler, and rose strawberry cobbler . But you can use any fruits or combinations with this great base.

My French Patisserie book had a fantastic looking recipe for clafoutis, and I was determined to make it that very day. I also swore to go "by the book". I even made their recipe for the shortcrust pastry, instead of my own. You could use any crust recipe you wanted for this, you simply need to "blind bake" it first. This just means to cook it before you fill it with batter. I always wondered if laying parchment inside and covering with beans or baking beads is what made it "blind"...?

If you have read anything about my cooking habits, it is so shocking for me not to change at least one thing in a recipe that the earth almost skips in it's rotation if I actually follow the directions. It would make my moma want to check me for a fever. But I persevered.

My fingernails were stained for days after pitting the cherries. Yes, I have a cherry pitter. It is one my moma was getting rid of in a moment of madness. It is from the 40's and has a gorgeous Jadite green wooden handle. So where is the picture of it? Better question- Where IS it?? I kept it to use on the sour cherries from my own little tree. But my cherries are so tiny that the punch for the pit wouldn't even come close to their centers to push out the seed. So, I sadly tucked it away for safe keeping...very safe, obviously. When I actually needed it for big, fat cherries it was nowhere to be found. And that's why God gave me fingernails (that and the fact that they keep the ends of my fingers from being chopped off quite frequently).

With the shiny cherries (10.5 oz) nestled into the pre-baked crust, then was only the simple batter to be poured over. The batter is just: 1/3 cup beaten egg, 1 egg yolk, a scant 1/3 cup of sugar, a heaping Tbsp flour, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup cream, whisked all together. Pour over the fruit and then make a delicate trip to the 350 degree oven.

40 minutes later, turning halfway through, and Et Voila! French cherry clafoutis. 

It was very nice, Dear Reader, and now I've done it. Will I do it again? Nah, probably not. It's basically a custard pie with fruit plopped in it. Lovely for a try, but not exciting enough to tempt me again. So, scratch clafoutis off the List of Things To Make Before I Die... ;)