Dessert in a Dash: Cherry Clafouti

My schedule was crazy yesterday, and though I knew about dinner guests, I hadn’t planned it out fully. I thought somehow it would all just come together. Most of the time this method works for me, but it was not one of those times—win some, lose some, pour yourself some wine.

As I dashed in the door (late) and ran between the kitchen and bath time for the girls, I realized that I had forgotten about dessert completely. Thankfully, I had gone to the farmers market earlier in the week and had cherries on hand. Even more thankfully, I have Elizabeth on speed dial and she offered up this Cherry Clafouti recipe she created for Martha Stewart Living. I’ve made clafouti before, but this was by the far the easiest recipe I’ve tried (and it was very forgiving with my limited pantry situation).

First, I pitted and sliced the cherries, tossing them in a bowl while I pulled together the rest of the ingredients. The best part about this dessert is that I could get it all prepped and let it sit on the counter while we ate dinner. Then, thirty minutes before we were ready for dessert, I poured the batter over the cherries in the pan and placed it in the oven. I may have mutilated the pork, but at least this dessert turned out fantastic.

Since I was under the gun, I did do a bit of freelancing—instead of crème fraîche I used buttermilk (in the batter, not for serving), and 1% milk in place of whole milk. I also substituted white whole-wheat flour for the all-purpose, because that’s how I roll. Admittedly, it would have been better with crème fraîche for serving; it creates a nice balance with the sweetness of the warm cherries. I’ll be sure to have that on hand next time. Trust me, there will be a next time.