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Clafoutis or Clafouti is an old fashioned dessert from the french region of Limousin (Limoges are) that spread to the rest of France in the nineteenth century. Right out of the oven it has an overwhelming sweet smell of cherries and sugar, it is very simple of cooking and it's served preferably warm, so in case you are going to serve it as dessert in a dinner bake it hours before and before serving put it for a couple of minutes in the oven (30 second in the microwave). The clafoutis it is cooked either in a big mould, like Kevin at Closet Cooking, or in small individuals ones and it's usually decorated with powdered sugar (you can make it with standard sugar and your mixer with the blades attached). Usually is prepared with sliced cherries, but some gourmets recommend to keep the cherries in one piece to improve the taste and respect the batter. As you can see in one of the photos, one clafoutis is different, with a clearer dough, from the others. That's because I substituted it with a sweetener for diabetics in order my dear Uncle Charlie could taste them (he's one of my culinary guinea pigs). I'm really happy with the result, these are my first clafoutis and are delicious!

ingredients

100 gr flour
100 gr white sugar or 120 brown sugar (I used brown)
50 gr butter or margarine
200 ml cream
50 ml milk (1/4 glass aprox.)
4 eggs
300 gr cherries (aprox.)

preparation

Wash and cut the cherries in slices. In a large bowl beat the eggs, add slowly the sugar to mix them completely and beat for a minute more. Now add the cream, the milk and the melted butter. When it is well mixed add slowly the flour (better if you do this with a mixer). You will get something like a very dense soup. Preheat the oven at 180 ºC. Pour the mixture in the buttered moulds or baking dishes of your preference. Now add the cherries (I've added from 9 to 12 slices per serving). Remember not to fill the moulds completely because the mixture will rise up a lot in the oven (it will go down afterwards). Bake them for 25-35 minutes or until the mixture is golden.

extras

You will find many recipes in which chefs add cocoa to make it of chocolate (for instance Jamie Oliver). You can also put some nuts in the mixture or serve it with whipped cream or syrups.

alternatives

Clafoutis can also be cooked with plums, cranberries, apples, prunes, caramelized fruits or even mixing different fruits at one. Try with your favorite fruit!