Cherry Clafouti

During the week when I’ve invited company for dinner, I always try to make my dessert the night before, but some weekdays I don’t have even a moment to plan ahead. That’s when I resort to this unfussy clafouti—a good example of how one can dress up common ingredients in fancy clothes with delicious results.

An authentic French clafouti is a mixture of fruit (fresh or poached) mixed with an egg batter and baked for 1½ hours, which results in a tender pancakelike fruit pudding. During