flipBlack Cherry Clafoutis
Black Cherry Clafoutis
Why this dish? Clafoutis is THE emblematic dessert of Corrèze and Limousin, Chanel's native region. It is the cake made when cherry trees bowed in June: a modest festive dessert tied to the land where Gabrielle was born in 1883.
A fragrant flan batter poured over whole black cherries and baked until golden and trembling. It is eaten warm, dusted with sugar, straight from the baking dish.
At home, we didn't pit the cherries — what a strange idea! The pit gives that little almond taste that makes the clafoutis, and besides, it saved wasting the juice. We took it out of the oven puffed up, golden, and it immediately fell: that's how it should be. A dessert without fuss, the way I like things: what is true needs no ornament.
- •Black cherries with pits — a good bowlful (fruit)
- •Eggs — three or four (binder)
- •Flour — two handfuls (structure)
- •Milk — a large bowl (batter)
- •Sugar — as desired (sweetness)
- •Butter — a knob (greasing the dish)
Black Cherry Clafoutis
A fragrant flan batter poured over whole black cherries and baked until golden and trembling. It is eaten warm, dusted with sugar, straight from the baking dish.
Why this dish? Clafoutis is THE emblematic dessert of Corrèze and Limousin, Chanel's native region. It is the cake made when cherry trees bowed in June: a modest festive dessert tied to the land where Gabrielle was born in 1883.
At home, we didn't pit the cherries — what a strange idea! The pit gives that little almond taste that makes the clafoutis, and besides, it saved wasting the juice. We took it out of the oven puffed up, golden, and it immediately fell: that's how it should be. A dessert without fuss, the way I like things: what is true needs no ornament.
Ingredients (period version)
- Black cherries with pits — a good bowlful (fruit)
- Eggs — three or four (binder)
- Flour — two handfuls (structure)
- Milk — a large bowl (batter)
- Sugar — as desired (sweetness)
- Butter — a knob (greasing the dish)
Ingredients
- Black cherries (unpitted) — 500 g (fruit)
- Eggs — 3 (binder)
- Flour — 100 g (structure)
- Whole milk — 500 ml (batter)
- Sugar — 80 g (sweetness)
- Butter — 20 g (greasing)
- Powdered sugar — for finishing (decoration)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter a gratin dish.
- Distribute the washed and stemmed cherries in the dish (keep the pits for the almond aroma).
- Whisk the eggs with the sugar, add the flour, then gradually add the milk until a smooth, fluid batter forms.
- Pour the batter over the cherries and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the clafoutis is golden and just set.
- Let it cool slightly, dust with powdered sugar, and serve in the dish. (Warn guests: pits inside!)
How it was made : Clafoutis (from the Occitan word "clafir", to fill) was baked as soon as cherries ripened. Leaving the pits in the fruit was not negligence but a choice: they release a bitter almond fragrance and prevent the juice from running out during baking.
The contemporary twist : Plate a neat slice on a black lacquered plate, a single cherry with its stem placed beside it: the graphic black-and-white contrast, absolute signature of the house.
Coco Chanel · Charactorium
