Recipe: Cherry Clafouti

the appetizer:

Cooking from the Hip by Cat Cora includes quick and easy recipes like Celery Root and Asian Pear Salad, Salmon-Topped Hash, and Cherry Clafouti.

Cherry Clafouti

Serves 4 to 6

A clafouti combines the creaminess of a pudding and the texture of a cake but is easier to make than either one. Cherries are great in a clafouti, and I'm going to suggest something controversial: try making this with whole, unpitted cherries. Leaving the pits in means the cherries hold their shape and juice during cooking, and spitting out the pits is no big deal—it's the same as eating whole olives. Of course, if you have children at your table, you'll want to pit the cherries first, but for grown-ups, try it both ways, with pitted and unpitted cherries, and see which you prefer. (If you do leave in pits, alert your guests!)

You can also make a much faster—and still very delicious—clafouti in a blender (see ' the options at the end of the recipe). You can use almost any fruit, as long as it's fresh and at the peak of its season. In summer, substitute or add plums or sliced peaches or nectarines, or try a combination of fruit.

Serve this warm from the oven with ice cream or softly whipped cream.

2-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more to butter the baking dish
1-1/2 pounds fresh cherries, stemmed and washed, pitted or unpitted
4-6 tablespoons sugar, depending on sweetness of cherries, plus 1/4 cup
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
4 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter the sides and bottom of a 2-quart baking dish or 10- to 11-inch pie plate.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the cherries and sprinkle with the 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar. Add the lemon zest. Stir gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until the cherries are heated through and slightly tender and the sugar has dissolved and combined with the juices. Remove from the heat and distribute evenly in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Set aside.

Place the egg yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl. With a hand mixer, beat on medium-high until the mixture is light yellow, fluffy, and thickened. Stop the mixer and add the milk, cream, and flour. Blend on low speed until the mixture is well combined. With a rubber spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the vanilla and mix briefly to incorporate well.

Clean the beaters. Then, in a separate large bowl, beat the egg whites and salt with the hand mixer until the whites hold soft peaks. Gently fold about one third of the whites into the yolk mixture with a rubber spatula. Fold in the remaining whites until they are well incorporated. Pour the batter over the cherries in the baking dish.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until the clafouti is puffed. Open the oven and sprinkle the top with the confectioners' sugar. Bake for another 10 minutes, or until the clafouti has puffed slightly more and is firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool. Serve slightly warm or cool.