Clafoutis might be one of the easiest, most forgiving French desserts. It’s the kind of dish you keep in your back pocket, ready to pull out when you’re at an ill-equipped vacation stay or when friends stop by at the last minute and you suddenly get the urge to whip something up. And because it’s not too sweet, it also makes for a killer low-effort brunch.
What is clafoutis, exactly?
A centuries-old dish from Limousin, France, clafoutis is an eggy, fruit-filled bake that lives somewhere at the intersection of pancake, cobbler, and custard. The word clafoutis is believed to derive from the verb clafir, which means “to fill” in Occitan, a language spoken in parts of France, Catalonia, Italy, and Monaco.
Traditionally made with unpitted sweet cherries, clafoutis recipes are endlessly adaptable. Purists will tell you that using another fruit technically turns this dish into a flognarde, but plenty of classically trained French cooks (including Julia Child and Joël Robuchon) have been known to embrace other kinds of fruit when demonstrating how to make clafoutis. Plus, you can bake it in a pie pan, casserole dish, seasoned cast-iron skillet, or any two- to three-quart heatproof vessel.
How to make clafoutis
Approach clafoutis like a choose-your-own-adventure project: The recipe provides structure, but the twists and changes are all up to you.
Pick your fruit: A fresh cherry clafoutis recipe is a rightful classic, but you can use two cups of pretty much any fruit in our clafoutis recipe (pitted, please; no one wants to crack a tooth on dessert). Peaches, plums, apricots, sweet or sour cherries, or a colorful medley of in-season stone fruits work beautifully. Or try handfuls of juicy summer blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or currants. Berries will leak their juices into the custard more than stone fruit, but the results will still be delicious. In the fall, use red grapes or sliced apples and pears (you’ll want to sauté those last two in butter before starting the clafoutis, just to soften). Or add a handful of golden raisins, dried cranberries, or halved prunes. And yes, you can use frozen fruit too (don’t thaw it first), so you can make this easy dessert whether it’s cherry season or not.
