“Les étourneaux ont tout bouffé !” my mum cried when she told me what happened to the cherry trees last year. The branches had been heavy with fruit and they had hoped to harvest a bounty, but the weather intervened and delayed the picking. Before they could collect the ripe, juicy cherries, a flock of clever starlings arrived in force — the true rascals — and in a few days there was hardly anything left. How do they even find them?
I don’t have that problem now, since I no longer have cherry trees in my garden. I miss that season, but Boston has excellent markets and on a recent trip to my vegetable seller I came home with bags full of shiny red and black cherries. They were worth the wait.
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The season is here! Le temps des cerises !
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Most of the time I like to eat cherries simply as they are, fresh from the bowl or straight off the tree, holding the pits in my mouth before spitting them as far as I can — P. and I even compete to see who can spit the farthest and most accurately. Still, there are a few preparations for which I willingly give up raw cherries in favor of a cooked dish. The classic, of course, is le clafoutis aux cerises. If you’ve grown up with French food or spent time with French cooks, you’ve likely made one — perhaps many — or at least tasted a cherry clafoutis. If you haven’t, now is a perfect time to start.
P. is already hooked and greedy for clafoutis, though he always hands me a handful of cherries as an enticement to get me into the kitchen. For me, cherries are nostalgic; they bring back tender memories. Fortunately for these cherries, the starlings didn’t get to them — I did.
Traditionally made with black cherries, clafoutis is a rustic baked dessert from the Limousin region of France. Cherries are arranged in a dish and covered with a simple batter of eggs, sugar, milk and flour, then baked until golden. It can be enjoyed warm or cold; I prefer mine slightly warm. In my version I used cream, vanilla seeds, replaced some flour with cornstarch for a silkier texture, and sprinkled crushed Biscuits Roses de Reims and chopped unsalted pistachios on top for a crunchy, nutty finish. But clafoutis is forgiving — adapt it however you like.
Ingredients:
- About 4 cups fresh black cherries
- 2 large eggs + 1 yolk
- 1/2 cup blond cane sugar
- 1 oz cornstarch
- 1 oz all-purpose flour
- 7/8 cup whole milk, cold
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Biscuits roses, ground (optional)
- A few unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Wash and dry the cherries.
- Whisk the eggs and yolk with the sugar until smooth.
- Stir in the vanilla seeds.
- Mix the cornstarch into the cold milk until dissolved.
- Add the flour and the milk‑cornstarch mixture to the eggs, then add the cream and whisk until homogeneous.
- Butter small ramekins (or a larger dish), sprinkle with a little sugar and tap out the excess.
- Divide the cherries among the ramekins and pour the batter over them.
- Sprinkle with ground Biscuits Roses if using, and bake for 40–45 minutes, until the clafoutis is puffed and golden. Serve warm or cold.
- Just before serving, scatter the chopped pistachios on top for texture and color.
Ingrédients :
- 600 g de cerises noires
- 2 gros œufs + 1 jaune
- 100 g de sucre de canne blond
- 30 g de maïzena
- 30 g de farine
- 200 ml de lait entier, froid
- 1 gousse de vanille, fendue et grattée
- 100 ml de crème liquide
- Poudre de biscuits roses (facultatif)
- Quelques pistaches non salées, concassées grossièrement
Étapes :
- Préchauffez votre four à 180°C.
- Lavez et séchez les cerises.
- Battez les œufs et le jaune avec le sucre jusqu’à obtenir un mélange lisse.
- Ajoutez les graines de vanille.
- Délayez la maïzena dans le lait froid.
- Ajoutez la farine et la préparation à la maïzena, puis la crème. Mélangez jusqu’à obtenir une pâte homogène.
- Beurrez de petits ramequins, saupoudrez-les d’un peu de sucre et retirez l’excès.
- Répartissez les cerises dans les moules et versez la pâte dessus.
- Saupoudrez de poudre de biscuits roses si souhaité et enfournez 40 à 45 minutes, jusqu’à une belle couleur dorée. Dégustez tiède ou froid.
- Au moment de servir, parsemez de pistaches concassées.