Bing cherries and grated, fresh ginger come together in this humble-but-delicious, custardy, Cherry-Ginger Clafouti.
6-8
servings15
minutes35
minutes50
minutesIngredients
1¼ lbs. fresh cherries, pitted, or 1 lb. frozen cherries
¾ cup sugar, divided
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
1 cup heavy cream
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbs butter, melted
¼ cup buckwheat flour
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. kosher salt
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 10-inch cast-iron pan.
- In a medium bowl, toss together the cherries, ¼-cup of the sugar, and the ginger. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, remaining ½-cup sugar, the cream, eggs, and the vanilla. Pour the butter in very slowly, whisking constantly. Whisk in the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and distribute the cherries over the top.
- Bake until puffed and golden, crisp around the edges, 5 minutes beyond the point where jiggling in the center ceases, 35 to 40 minutes. (Don’t fear letting it become quite browned. However, if it starts to brown too much for you liking, cover with foil. A toothpick inserted in several places in the center should not come out with batter clinging to it.) Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.
Notes
- Substitutions: whole wheat flour for the buckwheat. In that case, reduce the amount to 2 Tablespoons, then change the all-purpose flour to pastry flour and increase the amount by 2 Tablespoons.
This is an extremely pretty, yet relatively simple and flexible dessert. It tastes a bit like flan, though the cherries – especially if you use tart cherries – can’t help but suggest the flavor of pie. You can have it warm or at room temperature. (I don’t mind it cold, either.) It has a homey, unfussy vibe.
Social Learning
Ingredients…
If you’re using frozen cherries, I’ve read that it’s better to use them frozen, rather than thawed, because you’ll get less juice releasing into the batter. Nonetheless, one of the references I used for this recipe specifically called for them to be thawed. Note that if your cherries are frozen into a solid block, then you have no choice but to thaw them and drain off the liquid. If your frozen cherries are loose, and are coated with ice crystals, place them in a colander and shake them to try to dislodge a lot of the crystals.
I prefer to grate the ginger with a microplane zester, and I do not peel it beforehand. I also eyeball the tablespoon measurement. But you do you. The ginger isn’t obvious when the clafouti is fresh from the oven; it’s much more obvious at room temperature.
Cooking Tips…
The 350°F baking temperature is tied to the cast iron. It helps to crisp up the edges, which ties in to the whole cast-iron, rustic vibe. If you bake it in something more elegant, like a gratin dish, bake it at 325°F for a softer, creamier custard, with less browning and a more delicate texture.
Some say that clafouti should have a bit of jiggle in the center when it’s done. However, I think that the firmer parts around the edges are much more delicious than the creamy center, so I prefer to firm the whole thing up.
The Backstory
Clafouti is pronounced klah-foo-TEE. In French, it typically spelled clafoutis – but that doesn’t change the pronunciation. Like any classic French food, you will sound pretentious pronouncing it correctly, but that’s other people’s problem, not yours.
It’s traditionally made with cherries. It can be made with other fruits – I especially love blueberries – but this would technically make it a flaugnarde instead of a clafouti. If you suspect that your friends think you’re pretentious, mention this to them and you will actually see their eyes roll.
Cherry-Ginger Clafouti
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This looks amazing.
I’m going to see if this comment goes through as they haven’t for a few months.
Lori
Yes, it did! You know, it’s a mystery. There are times when the same kind of thing happens to me on other blogs, and then one day it resolves itself.
Yes please! I like the combination of cherry and ginger.
Thanks, Gary! That was a new combination for me, and I found that I love it, too!
That sounds wonderful!
Thank you, Mimi!
Magnificent!
Thank you!
This looks amazing Jeff, I love the combination of flavours. I have made one before which I featured on my blog so I must make it again. Thanks for the inspiration. I’m sure I say the name with an Aussie accent. I also like that you have given us two ways of cooking it.
Thank you, Pauline. I love an Australian accent, so I’m sure I’d love your pronunciation!
As Shelby said in Steel Magnolias, “An ounce of pretention is worth a pound of manure.” Well I say bring on the s**t because I love correct pronunciations in any language. 🙂
I love the idea of adding ginger to the cherry — a must try. My favorite clafoutis is apple, believe it or not. I love the cherry but, in France, they leave in the pits! No merci!
You know, I heard about the pits. It’s supposed to taste better. But yeah, who wants to have to deal with that? Thank you for the quote! I love it!
This looks very good.
Thank you!
Such a lovely dessert, Jeff. The cherry and ginger combination sounds elegant and beautifully balanced.
Thanks, Ben!
Oooh, I don’t think I’ve ever had cherry & ginger combined? But I do love both, mmm do you prefer it warm or room temp?
I liked it better at room temperature, or maybe just a touch above without being “warm,” and certainly not “hot.” I felt that at room temperature, it had more of a custardy, flan-like taste and texture, which I really loved. I actually didn’t mind it cold, either.
Cereza y jengibre, me quedo con la receta. Un abrazo
Thank you!
I absolutely love this dessert. Looks delicious!
Thank you so much, Javier!
This cherry ginger combo is such a fun twist, Jeff, it feels classic and a little mischievous at the same time. And honestly, your whole bit about pronunciation had me laughing, I’ll happily sound pretentious if it means getting a slice of this.
It’s been ages since I last made clafouti. This is such a delicious reminder! I really must give it another go, ASAP.
I had heard of it, but had never made it until recently.
Looks delicious. because our cherry season is so short, I’ve used bottle cherries and they work ok.
Oh, that’s good to hear. I was reading a recipe recently that suggesed jarred cherries, but I couldn’t find any in my local market. I’ll have to keep me eyes peeled.
Looks nice.
Cerises et gingembre est une association que je n’ai encore jamais faite, c’est original et très tentant !
May I have a slice please? Its a pleasure to visit your food space, keep creating, have it too!
Thank you so much, Soma!
I made this late last night — midnight cravings. It turned out beautifully & so delish! I subbed almond flour I had on hand for buckwheat flour, added 1 teaspoon of almond extract along with the vanilla extract in the recipe, subbed buttermilk for heavy cream (again, what I had on hand), and ramped up the fresh grated ginger to 4 tablespoons. I love ginger and had a huge piece in the fridge. I was worried the ginger might go bad if I didn’t used it soon. And my cherries were frozen from fresh ones I’d pitted a few months back. I added the cherries while still frozen and they sank beautifully into the pool of batter (no stirring). I turned the oven temp up to 375 after about 20 minutes due to no signs of bubbling yet. With frozen cherries, turning up the temp from the start would have helped. Lovely, crispy & golden around the edges, set & just slightly wobbly in the center — what a midnight treat! I topped my oatmeal with some this morning. Wow! Thanks for bringing cherries & ginger together so creatively!
Please tell that when you say late night cravings, that it means that you ate the whole thing on the couch, by the light of the television! That’s what I would’ve done! I love the way you weaved this around what you had on hand.