Tôt-Fait Baked Custard with the Glazed Cherries of Allevard

The word tô;t-fait means, literally, “all done” in a relatively few minutes of preparation. It is a specialty of the region–technically I suppose, a dessert, but solid enough to be a main course for someone with a slightly sweet tooth and a taste for the marvelous mountain cherries of Allevarti. Obviously this dish is a variation of the Spanish flan, so probably in the distant past it traveled across the Pyrenees and was adapted to the ingredients of the Alpine mountains. (See