Cheery about Cherries

It's that time of year again! It’s cherry season, one of my favorite times. Growing up we had a cherry tree in the back yard that had the biggest, plumpest deep burgundy purple cherries. My friends, family and I would just climb the tree, pick a limb to sit on and eat those sweet juicy cherries until our stomachs hurt. We pretty much ate the cherries straight from the tree but the one thing we did like to make with the cherries was a “Clafouti”. Clafouti is a custard like dessert, it is basically a fruit (typically cherries) baked with an almost pancake like batter.
From what I have read apparently the French say you should never remove the pits from the cherries when making a Clafouti, they say leaving the pits imparts more flavor. I couldn’t agree more, I am sure that it does in the same way that bone-in meat imparts more flavor to the meat versus a boneless cut. But, I really like my teeth and would prefer not to crack them on a cherry pit, so I opt to take the pits out before making this recipe. That part is totally up to you.

Cherry Clafouti

1 lb. fresh sweet cherries or 1 can dark sweet cherries

1/2 c. sifted unbleached flour

2/3 c. sugar, save a tablespoon to sprinkle on top before baking

Pinch of salt

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/2 c. milk

3 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled

Wash and dry fresh cherries, or thoroughly drain canned cherries. In large bowl combine flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar and the salt. Add eggs, blending thoroughly with wire whip or wooden spoon. Add milk and melted butter, stirring until mixture is quite smooth. (Do not beat.) Butter a 9x9x2 inch baking pan. Sprinkle in 1 tbsp. of the remaining sugar. Spread cherries on bottom; pour in batter.

My apologies to all, I didn't even realize I had left out the cooking time and temp. Thank you anonymous for making me aware of that so I could correct it.

The oven temp should be 350 degrees and baking time is about 30 to 35 minutes.

Once again sorry for the accidental omit.