JULIA CHILD'S CHERRY CLAFOUTI RECIPE

Happy Fourth & Bonne Féte Nationale!

Can you believe the year is halfway over?! July is a celebratory month for both France and America! And I have the perfect little recipe for you to make today for either The 4th of July or Bastille Day. (Le 14 Juillet) Plus hello cherries! I love celebrating cherry season with a Julia Child classic!!! With ample pockets of fruit and a texture somewhere in between a custard, a cake, and a dutch baby, the clafouti (pronounced kla-foo-tee) is a classic French dessert that should be on your radar.

Traditionally (and in this Julia Child recipe) sweet, dark Summer cherries are the fruit of choice, though berries or diced stone fruit (like plums or nectarines) also work wonderfully with the puffy custard base. (Come wintertime, this cranberry variation can't be beat.) Super traditional recipes also call for leaving cherry pits intact for more flavor, but I have to instruct against this move: imagine accidentally biting into a rock-hard pit, ouch! I do not want to be the reason for you visiting the dentist!

Serve it warm at the end of a dinner party (it takes about as much effort to prep as a crumble or crisp). Leftovers are a bit more dense and make for an ideal morning-after breakfast when topped with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt or crème fraiche.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups whole milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups cherries, pitted
Powdered sugar, for dusting

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a SQUARE BAKE TRAY (I recommend the bake tray from Falcon Enamelware. It’s deep and sturdy and manufactured from heavy-weight steel.

In a blender, blend the milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and flour until smooth.

Pour the batter into the baking tray. Add the cherries to the batter. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. The clafouti is done when puffed and brown and a knife plunged in the center comes out clean.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, serve warm.

I am using some of my new Falcon Enamelware in this post! Told you about the amazing bake tray, but I also highly recommend the Falcon Prep Set. It’s a six-piece bowl and colander set, with a bowl big enough to make a cake right down to small dishes for nibbles. I used the colander in this post and one of the smaller mixing bowls!

As well as timeless elegance, Falcon Enamelware has enduring strength. Enamelware is porcelain fused onto heavy-gauge steel, giving it many admirable qualities - durability, smoothness and chemical-resistance. It can assume brilliant, long-lasting colours, and cannot burn. If you drop it, it may chip but it won’t break. Dishwasher-safe and oven-safe up to 530F / 270C, it can also be used on gas and electric hobs.

You will be seeing my Falcon Enamelware quite frequently in my posts!! They are an icon of British home life since 1920 and I am just so in love with these pieces! I love all the fun colors they come in. My bake tray is pillarbox red. My prep set is pigeon grey. My pint jug not featured in this post is mustard yellow! And my pie dishes are also pillarbox red! I have a little surprise coming up for Lin’s birthday and I cannot wait to carry all of these along with us.

I will tell you more about that and Falcon Enamelware soon!

Have a safe happy long holiday if you are in America! And my beloved Frenchies….it’s time to start planning for a wonderful Bastille Day Féte!!!!!! OUI!