In the kitchen: clafoutis

Thistles and Kiwis,

It’s summer, the days are sunny and bright, and there is an abundance of gorgeous fruit around, from blueberries and raspberries to apricots and plums. There are also cherries, those gorgeous little pops of flavour that are impossible to stop eating once you start. And when you do stop eating them, you can use the stones to spell out who you will marry and what you will wear…tinker, tailor, soldier or sailor in silk, satin muslim or rags and so on.

I picked up a box of cherries last week, and to make sure they didn’t go past their best, I decided to make a that classic French summer dessert, clafoutis. Coming from the Limousin region of France, clafoutis is basically fruit covered with a fluffy batter and baked in the oven.

I looked at the pile of cherries and though if I have to sit with a little knife and cut each fruit in half and pick out the stone, I will be here all day, so I turned to YouTube for advice (as one does in these circumstances) and found this ingenious idea. Pop a fruit on top of a narrow necked bottle, take a chopstick, and push the stone through. It worked a dream. I should point out that these cherries were very ripe, so you might need a little more effort for firmer fruit.

I used this Nigel Slater recipe from The Guardian, which was straightforward and simple, and also produced a lovely, fluffy batter. The dessert is served warm, with a little cream poured over the top. A thick Greek yoghurt is also excellent.

Clafoutis is also good made with apricots. Whatever you choose, do have a go when it is summer with you and you have an abundance of fruit. It is a lovely seasonal treat.

Also entered in Natalie the Explorer’s coffee share.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis.  As for Twitter….am totally inactive these days.  If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com

Published by Thistles and Kiwis

32 Comments

  2. That looks very tasty. We have an excess of blackberries and I just looked at Nigel Slater’s recipe and one of his suggestions is to use blackberries..so I’ll give it a try…many thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. We’ve been pigging out on cherries the most. Countdown has been selling them at $9 for big container full, the only drawback is to not eat so many at once.

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. I adore clafoutis! Have only had it twice in my life, and I still remember each occasion vividly: 1st time in France (on a hot summer’s evening in Angouleme – it was apricot), and the 2nd, my Singaporean friend was practicing with her French mom-in-law’s recipe and I was proudly the recipient of one of her attempts – she used plum.

    Love how your de-pipped the fruit – helpful hacks from youtube!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. Our cherry tree is coming out from the dark fog of winter. Last year was it’s first year of yielding good fruit but the birds were on those before I could secure a net from on-line.
    This year I’m ready for those buggers.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
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