Name: Custard and Cherries Baked in a Skillet (Clafoutis aux Cerises)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 2 cups warm milk; 3 eggs; 2 tablespoons Armagnac or Cognac; Confectioners’ sugar; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; Grated zest of ½ lemon, organic if available; 1 pound sweet cherries (about 3 cups), pitted; Pinch of salt; 4 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature; ¼ sugar; ½ cup (4 ounces) all-purpose flour, pastry flour or whole wheat pastry flour, plus 1 tablespoon for the skillet

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Cooking of South West France

By Paula Wolfert

Published 1987

About

Think of this clafoutis as pure therapy for the stressed-out home cook. It’s easy and homey, and it can be served at any temperature—warm, cool, or at room temperature.

The cherry version of this clafoutis is a regional specialty of the Limousin, a region producing beautiful tart cherries. Traditionally, the local cooks don’t pit their cherries. One reason is they know if they do, the juices will bleed out during baking and make the cake unsightly. Since I find most people prefer us