I have a soft spot for French desserts from back in my college days when I spent a year there. I lived in this relatively small town on the western side of France, about halfway between Paris and Bordeaux. I used to love going to the patisserie that was right down the street (danger, Will Robinson!) to get a flan (not at all the same as a Spanish flan).
And the closest thing to flan in French desserts, in my opinion anyway, is clafouti. I love clafouti because it’s a perfect combination of sweet, creamy custard and fresh fruit. My family, however, isn’t so high on just fruit and custard, so I decided to sweeten the pot, so to speak, for them. I added dark chocolate. After all, dark chocolate makes everything better, right?
Cherries are just coming into season here, and they looked pretty nice, so I went with cherry as the fruit. Oh, and also, doesn’t chocolate go fantastically with cherries?
Dark Chocolate Cherry Clafouti
adapted from Martha Stewart
Serves 8
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 pounds cherries, pitted (a cherry pitter is well worth it!)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 8 oz. dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375°. Butter a 10-inch porcelain or glass tart dish and fill it with the pitted cherries. Set aside. Sift flour and salt together into a large bowl. Add sugar. Gradually whisk in whole eggs, egg yolks, milk, and cream. Add vanilla-bean scrapings and whisk to combine.
Using a sieve, strain the batter over the cherries. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Bake until puffed and browned and set in the center, about 50 minutes. Let cool until warm; it will sink slightly. You can serve it warm or chilled.
It looks so good. I know it tastes so delicious too. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.