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.

download and print recipe

baked clafouti

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