Tips for the perfect clafoutis
Once you realise how easy it is to make this French dessert yourself, you’ll never want anything else. Just make sure you use the right ingredients. If you just wing it, you may end up sliding a sloppy mess out of the oven instead of a perfectly soft clafoutis. We’re sharing five preparation tips.
The fruit
Strawberries? Raspberries? No way! A clafoutis should only be filled with cherries, otherwise it’s called a flaugnarde. But can those cherries come from a jar? Actually, no. Fresh is always better, and especially in a clafoutis, where the cherries also play the starring role. Go for the most delicious ones you can find. It’s important to always leave them whole. If you don’t, they lose a lot of moisture. That makes the clafoutis soggy.
And then there’s the next dilemma: do you remove the pits or leave them in? Many French pastry chefs choose the latter. They claim that the cherry pits give the batter a distinctive flavour during baking. If you remove them, your clafoutis will have a much milder flavour. Give it a try. From a practical point of view, there is something to be said for pitting the cherries. That way, you can spoon the dessert into your mouth without worrying about breaking your teeth.
The batter
Milk, eggs, sugar, flour, salt: clafoutis batter looks a little like pancake batter. It’s just a bit thicker, because of the larger amount of flour you stir into it. Opinions differ on whether melted butter belongs in it. Nothing is necessarily right or wrong, so we’re team butter. It makes your batter extra soft and creamy, exactly how clafoutis should taste.
There are also different opinions about the order in which you add the ingredients to the batter. We could explain them all, but ultimately the most important thing is to be careful. Don’t throw everything into a bowl at once; add the eggs, milk and flour in small stages. This prevents lumps.
The lemon zest
Is it really necessary? That depends on the kind of cherries you use. If you choose very sweet ones, a subtle tang in the clafoutis can be delicious. Are you going for morello cherries, which are naturally a little more sour? Then leave out the lemon.
The dish
Choose a shallow, round oven dish and grease it with butter. Then add the cherries. Don’t be stingy—make sure the dish is well filled. We want a generously filled clafoutis.
Serving
Does it sink a little after you take it out of the oven? That’s completely normal. Instead of worrying about it, you’d better start eating quickly. We think clafoutis is at its most delicious while it’s still a little warm. Its texture is also softer then. You can eat it cold too, but the dessert will be a little firmer. Whichever you choose: don’t forget the icing sugar!
Also read:
