A traditional French flan-type pudding made with cherries, or in this case grapes. It’s very quick and easy to prepare. This recipe takes you through how to make clafoutis so that you end up with the classic light custardy batter bursting with fruit. It’s one of the delights of summer.
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Dive Right In
- What Is Clafoutis?
- How To Make Grape Clafoutis
- Grape Clafoutis Step-by-Step
- How To Make Cherry Clafoutis
- Other Grape Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- The Recipe
What is Clafoutis?
Clafoutis is a classic dessert which originated in the Limousin region of France. It’s a sort of cross between an egg custard and a Yorkshire pudding with fruit. Traditionally it’s made with whole unpitted griottes, or sour morello cherries. But these days any type of cherry will do.
Clafoutis is made with a light eggy batter and is most definitely not a cake. It only uses a small amount of flour to thicken and give a little stability, but it should not be solid. And definitely not rubbery.
Whilst clafoutis is classically made with cherries, it also works well with other fruit. Mirabelle plums are perfect and you can just follow the same recipe as for cherries, including keeping the stones in the fruit.
However, I’ve found that grapes make an excellent clafoutis too, especially small black grapes.
How to Make Clafoutis with Grapes
Grapes are thin skinned and juicy and some of that juice leaks out whilst the clafoutis is baking. This results in a bit of juice at the bottom of the clafoutis dish. Nonetheless the custard slices beautifully, so don’t worry if you get a bit of grape juice seeping out. This is less of an issue with cherries.
I use small sweet seedless black grapes for this recipe as I like the colour contrast as well as the flavour. Juicy purple grapes and dreamy, creamy yellow custard are a perfect match.
The batter is traditionally made with eggs, milk, sugar and a little flour. Much like waffles or pancakes, but the quantities are different. As well as milk, clafoutis is often made with a little double cream for richness. I tend to go fifty fifty on the milk and cream, but you can use more milk and less cream if you want to.
When I make grape clafoutis, I sometimes use kefir rather than milk. This is partly because I make my own kefir and usually have some that needs using up. But also, as grapes are quite sweet, the tartness of the kefir complements them really well.
When goose eggs are in season and if I’m lucky enough to get some, I’ll use those instead of hens eggs. They have such a fabulous colour and are excellent for baking, that it’s worth hunting some out if you’re able. You can find out more about them in this duck egg post. In the recipe and images I’ve given here, however, I’ve used hens eggs.
Getting a nice light custardy batter means you don’t want too much in the way of flour. Just a little to help with stability. If you use too much, you may end up with a rubbery rather than soft and smooth result.
It’s best to bake clafoutis before you sit down to dine. It needs a little bit of time to cool and set. In fact, you should serve it slightly warm rather than hot. It’s good at room temperature too.
Grape Clafoutis Step by Step
Full instructions and ingredients are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
1. Butter the clafoutis dish
Start by buttering a medium sized baking dish. You can use a round one, square one or a dedicated clafoutis dish such as the one you can see in these photos.
2. Sugar the clafoutis dish
Sprinkle in a little sugar and swirl it around so that it sticks evenly to the bottom and a little way up the sides. The sugar creates the classic crusty edges.
3. Tip in the grapes
Tip in your washed seedless grapes. Make sure they’re more or less dry first. If they’re still covered in water, they may make the batter too wet and it won’t set properly.
Grapes pair really well with lemon, so I’ve included the zest of a lemon in this grape clafoutis recipe. It takes the place of the almond flavour in the classic cherry clafoutis.
4. Make the batter
Make your batter by whisking together the remaining ingredients, all bar the icing sugar for dusting over the top once it’s baked.
I’ve given a process for this in the recipe below, but as long as you have a good whisk, you can just dump everything in together. You’re looking for a smooth, lump-free batter.
5. Pour over the grapes
Once you’ve whisked the batter together, pour it over the grapes.
6. Bake the clafoutis
Pop your clafoutis batter into the middle of a hot oven. It takes about forty minutes to bake. You’ll know it’s done when the top is risen, golden and firm to the touch, but still has a bit of a wobble.
Don’t worry if the batter deflates soon after you remove it from the oven. That’s just the way it is.
7. Let the clafoutis cool
Allow the clafoutis to cool for at least twenty minutes, It’s the sort of pudding that’s best eaten slightly warm or at room temperature, rather than hot.
Once you’re ready to serve, give it a light dusting of icing sugar.
How to Make Clafoutis with Cherries
I already have a delicious recipe for clafoutis Limousin on Tin and Thyme. But although the recipe is mostly authentic, I’ve added a few swirls of chocolate. Omit the chocolate, however and you have a recipe for classic clafoutis with cherries. It’s slightly different to this one, but not much.
Cherries are sturdier than grapes and don’t give up so much of their juice. This results in a firmer batter that you can actually slice. You won’t get the two tone effect though.
To make cherry clafoutis, follow the steps above, but swap the grapes for cherries. The only other thing to remember is to omit the lemon zest. Cherries have their own flavour and don’t really need the lemon too.
It’s traditional to leave the cherry pits in the fruit. This imparts some almond flavour to the clafoutis as it bakes. But it does make it harder to eat. If you go down this route, make sure you give anyone eating it fair warning. Cracked teeth are not what you want when enjoying a delightful dessert.
If you’d prefer to pit the cherries before adding them to the dish, then use a few drops of almond extract instead. Somewhere between three and five should be about right.
The cherry pitter* I use is a really good one from OXO good grips. It’s easy and effective and has a guard to stop you getting splattered. You can see it in action, sort of, in my Gadgets to Go post.
How Long Will Clafoutis Keep?
This is more of a hypothetical question as it never gets to hang around long in our house. That said, this recipe for clafoutis keeps well at room temperature for a good twenty four hours or so. It gets firmer the longer you leave it.
You can keep it in the fridge for a couple of days if you prefer, but do make sure you allow it to warm up before you eat it.
Other Grape Recipes You Might Like
- Easy grape jam via Fab Food 4 All
- Golden grape jam via Family Friends Food
- Marinated tempeh with roasted grapes and fennel via Tin and Thyme
- Mulled concord grape cider via Rhubarbarians
- Red grape & rosemary focaccia via Kidgredients
- Roasted cauliflower salad with lentils & grapes via Veggie Inspired
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this clafoutis with grapes or cherries, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more pudding recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Grape Clafoutis. PIN IT.
Grape or Cherry Clafoutis – The Recipe
Clafoutis with Grapes or Cherries
Ingredients
- 400 g seedless grapes washed and dried – or cherries complete with pits (I used small sweet black grapes)
- 50 g golden caster sugar + 1 tbsp for sprinkling
- 2 tbsp heritage flour (I used 1 tbsp wholemeal spelt flour and 1 tbsp white spelt flour)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch fine sea or rock salt
- 4 medium eggs
- 140 ml milk (¼ pt)
- 140 ml double cream (heavy cream) (¼ pt)
- 2 tbsp brandy (or 2 tbsp kirsch if using cherries)
- 1 organic lemon finely zested (for grape version only)
- 1 tsp icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4).
- Lightly butter a medium sized baking dish, then sprinkle one tablespoon of caster sugar around the base. Give it a good swirl so it sticks more or less evenly.
- Pile in the grapes or cherries, then make the batter.400 g seedless grapes
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together. Crack in the eggs and give a good whisk.50 g golden caster sugar, 2 tbsp heritage flour, ½ tsp baking powder, 1 pinch fine sea or rock salt, 4 medium eggs
- Pour in the milk together with the cream. Whisk again. Follow this with the brandy or kirsch and lemon zest, if using. Whisk well and you should end up with a lovely smooth batter.140 ml milk, 140 ml double cream (heavy cream), 2 tbsp brandy, 1 organic lemon
- Pour the batter over the fruit and pop it on to the middle shelf of the hot oven. Set a timer for forty minutes. Once baked, the top should be well risen and firm to the touch, but the whole thing should have a slight wobble about it. If it's too wobbly, give it an extra five minutes.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool a little. Clafoutis is best served just warm or at room temperature rather than hot.
- Lightly dust the top with icing sugar, slice and serve.1 tsp icing sugar for dusting
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
I’m sharing this recipe for how to make clafoutis with grapes or cherries with Sew White for #CookBlogShare.
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Nic | Nic's Adventures & Bakes says
Thanks for sharing, this looks amazing dessert 🙂
Choclette says
It’s a bit different to your average clafoutis for sure, but very good.
Marita says
I never heard of Clafoutis. Now I want to try it. It sounds delicious.
Choclette says
It’s a lovely pudding to bake in summer as it’s not only delicious, but light too.
sherry says
i’ve never had much luck with clafoutis… it always ends up tasting eggy and/or floury. not pleasant. but i’m sure yours is great!
Choclette says
Sounds to me that you need to try this recipe. Then you can tell me if it’s either too eggy or too floury. Definitely shouldn’t be the latter and hopefully not the former either.
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
Clafoutis is so delicious, I love your version!
Choclette says
Thank Kat. It’s such a good dessert for summer.
Corina Blum says
I’ve never made a clafoutis but it’s on my list of recipes I want to try and I love the sound of this one as well as the cherry one!
Choclette says
Yes do try it Corina. Clafoutis is such a lovely dessert for summer fruit. And I’m sure we’ll get a summer at some point!
Kate - Gluten Free Alchemist says
I’ve never yet made Clafoutis… But I often think I should. It looks like such a perfect dessert. And with so little flour, would be ideal for us gluten free people to adapt! Thanks for sharing… I’ll definitely have to try this xx
Choclette says
Absolutely Kate, the flour is there as a thickener and to provide a bit of stability more than anything, so I suspect gluten-fee flour would be fine.
Mary says
I’ve never had a Goose egg but I used to have Mr & Mrs Duck which were wild ducks that would waddle in to see me. She left me a new laid egg on the lawn one day – thankyou Mrs Duck! It was lovely in my next cake.
Your Clafoutis looks very tasty and will have to be tried too. Maybe later when the best fruit will be back in season. Thanks Choclette :))
Choclette says
Ducks are such fun. We used to live next to a large pond Mrs duck would waddle around the garden with her brood. They all ventured into the house one day, so we had to start keeping the back door closed. She never gave me an egg though. Lucky you.
angiesrecipes says
Hi Choclette, I just want to stop by and let you know that I got all 3 of your comments on my blog. Thank you!
Choclette says
Thanks for letting me know Angie.
Lesley says
I do love a clafoutis and think that using grapes in place of cherries and just a hint of brandy sounds like a delicious combination.
Choclette says
Thank you Lesley. Clafoutis makes for a lovely summer pudding, but I think, more than anything, I love the name.
angiesrecipes says
Love Clafoutis made with any seasonal fruit!
angiesrecipes
Choclette says
It’s such a quick and simple pudding to make and always reminds me of France.