Clafouti in Autumn

The cherries had their chance to wade in a pool of clafouti batter, now it is the apples turn to take the plunge. Like I had said in an earlier post on cherry clafouti you can use just about any fruit you can think of, preferably fresh fruit but reconstituted dry fruit works as well.
We just hear cherries mentioned so often in regards to clafouti because cherries are what it was traditionally made with.
But autumn is such a wonderful season rich in its own unique bounty why not use some of it to bring some new flavors to old favorites.

Apple Clafouti

1 1/4 lb. apples, peeled, cored and cut lengthwise in slices about 1/4inch thick (any variety)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup dark rum (apple brandy is also good, use what you like)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup all purpose flour
Confectioners sugar for dusting, optional

Cook and stir apples in butter until lightly browned, then macerate (soak) 1/2 hour with rum, cinnamon and half the sugar.
Heat oven to 350 degrees, butter 10 inch round baking dish, put remaining ingredients except flour and confectioners sugar in blender and blend a few seconds. Add flour and blend until no lumps are left. If doing it by hand, make a hole in center and you add a bit of milk mixture at a time, stirring, until you have a smooth paste. Cover and let rest while the fruit is macerating.
Drain fruit, reserving the liquid and spread prepared fruit evenly over buttered dish. Add reserved liquid to batter and blend until smooth, using a wire whisk. Then pour batter over fruit and bake until puffed and brown; a sharp knife should come clean out of the middle, about 45 minutes. Sprinkle top with confectioner’s sugar just before serving.
This Clafoutis is best served warm or at least at room temperature.

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.