French Custard Cake with Cherries – Easy Rustic Clafoutis 🇫🇷

This Clafoutis is a French custard cake made with brandy-soaked cherries in a thick, pancake-like batter of eggs, flour, milk, cream, ground almonds, vanilla and sugar.

About Clafoutis

Origins and Tradition:
Clafoutis comes from the Limousin region of France and dates back to the 19th century. Bakers originally made this French custard cake with whole, unpitted black cherries and a simple egg-and-flour batter. They believed the stones released a light almond aroma as the dessert baked. The name comes from the Occitan word clafir, which means “to fill”. Clafoutis is usually baked in early summer, when cherries are in season. It’s served warm or at room temperature, often dusted with icing sugar and paired with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream. If it’s made with other fruit like plums, apples, or apricots, it’s called flognarde.

This Recipe:
This version is based on Michel Roux Jr.’s clafoutis, which he demonstrated in a TV episode using his grandmother’s recipe. It calls for pitted cherries soaked in cherry brandy. The batter is gently beaten by hand with a balloon whisk. That gives it a soft, custardy texture, more like flan than cake.
I baked it in a 20cm round tin and got six medium-sized slices.

If baking for more than two people, for a family or when serving guests, use a larger dish and double all the ingredients. Make sure the dish is wide enough to hold all the cherries in a single layer so the clafoutis bakes evenly.

Ingredients for Clafoutis

• cherries – Use ripe, good-quality cherries, preferably large, dark varieties. Jarred pitted black cherries in light syrup or juice are also a convenient option and work well.
• eggs – Standard medium or large eggs.
• flour – Plain white all-purpose flour.
• butter – Unsalted, melted and slightly cooled.
• milk – Best use full-fat milk.
• cream – Use double cream, full-fat.
• sugar – White granulated sugar.
• vanilla – Whole vanilla pod.
• almonds – Finely ground.
• brandy – Kirsch or Maraschino cherry brandy.

How to make Clafoutis

Add the ingredients in the correct order, as it directly affects the final texture. Don’t skip steps or mix everything at once.

In some traditional French versions, the cherries are left unpitted and baked whole, as the stones are said to release a subtle almond-like flavour during cooking. For this recipe, I removed them using a cherry stoner. I prefer not to risk a dental emergency :).

Prepare the Cherries

• If preparing with fresh cherries, remove the stones with a cherry pitter. Jarred cherries are usually already pitted and ready to use
• Soak the cherries in cherry brandy or another cherry liqueur. Ideally, let them sit for at least one hour.
• After soaking, drain the cherries gently; no need to squeeze them. Add them to the baking dish and spread them out evenly.
• Generously butter your baking dish, using more butter than you normally would. I used a dish about 20 cm in diameter.

Note:
Use a wide, shallow dish to bake clafoutis, not a deep one. A shallow dish helps the batter cook evenly and keeps the cherries in a single layer. Unlike sponge cakes, where you scatter fruit on top of thick batter, clafoutis begins with cherries on the bottom and a thin batter poured over them.

Make the Batter

• Measure out 130g of butter and set aside about 10g. Gently melt the remaining 120g over low heat in a small saucepan, then let it cool. Do not add hot butter to the batter, it should be just warm.
• Add the eggs to a large bowl and lightly beat them with a fork.
• Add the flour and continue mixing with a fork or balloon whisk. Do not use an electric mixer. You should end up with a batter that’s free of lumps.
• Add the melted butter once it has cooled slightly; it should not be hot. Whisk until smooth.
• Now add the milk, then the sugar, and continue mixing. Finally, add the seeds scraped from the vanilla pod and ground almonds.

Assemble and Bake Clafoutis

• Slowly pour the batter over the cherries.
• Place the dish in a preheated oven at 200°C and bake for 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 170°C and continue baking for another 15 minutes.
• Check the centre with a wooden cocktail stick; if the mixture still looks watery, continue baking until it sets properly.
• Once the centre is set, remove the dish and dot the top with a few small pieces of butter. Return it to the oven for another 5 minutes.

Cool and Serve Clafoutis

• Once baked, let the French custard cake settle slightly – it will deflate as it cools. Do not slice until it is fully cooled.
• Dust with regular sugar or icing sugar. Serve with good-quality vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, or just on its own.

Clafoutis is best enjoyed fresh, but leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 2 days.

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