How can you not give into temptation while walking through the grocery store this time of year? Cherries sit on the tables, gleaming their red, burgundy and yellow goodness and just saying "Buy me! Take me home! See how pretty I am?"
And I did.
Armed with two pounds of delicious and gorgeous cherries, I was then in a predicament. What do I do with them? I ate some but with every bite I reminded myself that I had less to work with by doing so! I put them in the refrigerator and went on a quest to find a recipe that said "This is it!" Whether it was jelly, jam, a fresh cherry pie, clafouti, bread, cake, ice cream... I didn't know and didn't care - I just wanted to find great recipes for my beautiful cherries!
And so my friends, if you also have a gorgeous pile of gleaming cherries, how about a clafouti? Some people leave the pits in the cherries because cherry seeds add an almond flavor to the dish when baked. While I can see doing this years ago when this recipe was first being made, we now have almond extract, almond syrups and amaretto readily available to flavor our dish so we can pit the cherries first and eat it easier. (Especially for the eldery and young children! You don't have to worry about the pits or chipping a tooth.)
While it calls for almond extract, feel free to add amaretto or what I like to use - almond coffee syrup flavoring. You'll have to use a little bit more (about 2 teaspoons for the 3/4 t it calls for of extract) but the flavor is delicious.
Cherry Clafouti
2 cups of fresh sweet cherries, pitted
2 T of sliced or slivered almonds - toasted
3 eggs
1 c of sugar
1 T of brown sugar
1/2 c flour
1/8 t salt
1 c milk
3/4 t almond extract
1 1/2 t of vanilla
Powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and lightly flour a 9X9 or 10X7 baking dish. Toss in the cherries and slivered almonds. Whisk the eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, salt, and flour together. Add the milk, almond extract, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Pour into the baking dish.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool. It will be puffy out of the oven but fall while cooling. When cool, dust with powdered sugar and serve.
