Recipe below: Cherry Clafoutis with Bay and Lemon Thyme
Cherry clafoutis as traditionally made in the Limousin region of France uses whole, unpitted cherries. I never wanted to serve it that way, for fear of choking someone, especially when my swallowing-compromised mother was still alive. So every summer I’d consider making a cherry clafoutis and ultimately decide to forget it, even though the thought drove me crazy with culinary romance. Also I wanted to pit the cherries, but I stupidly couldn’t figure out how. Why it took me so long to break down and buy a cherry pitter I’m not sure, but I think I had it in my head that there was no way a simple little gadget that cost nine dollars could get the pit out while leaving the cherry more or less whole. I was dead wrong. The things work. Buy one. I only use it in June and July, when cherries are in season, but it has contributed to my life in a big way.
After I got through with the pitting, which took all of five minutes, I needed to think about herbs, as I wanted to add some sort of herb flavoring to the batter. The usual additions are kirsch and vanilla, which I love and did add, but since dairy, especially cream, accepts flavors so readily, I decided to also add fresh bay leaves and sprigs of lemon thyme to the standard milk-and-cream mix and give that a quick heat-and-steep. You’ll want only fresh bay leaves here. Dried would impart a musty flavor, which would really not be good at all. If you don’t have lemon thyme, regular thyme and a piece of lemon peel will work beautifully. Lemon verbena is also a nice way to go.
I love the bay leaf and lemon thyme combination so much, I’m already thinking about other ways to use it, both sweet and savory. Stay tuned.
I used a shallow 11-by-8-inch oval baking dish for the clafoutis, but any more-or-less equivalent-size round or rectangular dish will work fine.
Cherry Clafoutis with Bay and Lemon Thyme
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 fresh bay leaves, ripped in half
5 sprigs lemon thyme
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ pints sweet summer cherries, pitted
1 tablespoon sugar, plus ⅓ cup for the batter
1 tablespoon kirsch liqueur
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus a little more for greasing the baking dish
2 large eggs
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
Put the milk and cream in a saucepan. Add the bay leaves, the lemon thyme, a pinch of salt, and the vanilla, and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, and let it steep for about an hour to develop flavor.
While the cream mixture is steeping, put the pitted cherries in a bowl, and add the tablespoon of sugar and the kirsch. Give them a quick toss, and let them sit to soak in the sugar and cherry flavors.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat the baking dish lightly with butter.
When the cream mixture has steeped for an hour, put the 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan, and cook over medium heat until it turns golden brown, about 4 minutes.
Put the ⅓ cup of sugar and the eggs in a mixing bowl, and whisk them together. Add the flour, whisking it in. Pull the herbs from the cream mixture (or strain it), discarding them, and add the herb cream to the bowl. Add the browned butter, and mix everything well. Add the cherries, with any juices they’ve given off.
Pour it all into the baking dish, and bake until it has puffed up and is lightly browned, about 35 minutes. If the center hasn’t puffed and still looks wobbly, cook a few minutes longer.
Let the clafoutis sit for about 15 minutes so it can firm up. It’ll deflate as it cools, but that’s the way it goes. Serve slightly warm.