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Homemade clafoutis: the softest and most melt-in-your-mouth recipes

Clafoutis is the quintessential family dessert. Whether traditionally made with cherries or reimagined with seasonal fruits, the secret to a good clafoutis lies in the balance between a smooth, flan-like batter and a generous amount of fruit. Discover our best variations to ensure you succeed every time with this timeless classic.

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All your questions for making the perfect clafoutis 🍒

It’s all about the fruit! Traditionally, a clafoutis is a dish made exclusively with cherries. When other fruits are used (apples, pears, apricots), the official name is flognarde (or flagnarde). However, the term “clafoutis” is now used for all fruit-based variations.

Purists will tell you no! Leaving the pits in (especially for cherries) helps retain all the juice inside the fruit and adds a subtle almond note to the batter. If you choose to pit them for convenience, dust your fruit with a little flour to prevent it from releasing too much juice and making the batter soggy.

The secret lies in the mixing: don’t overwork the dough once the flour is incorporated, to avoid developing the gluten. Using whole milk and adding a touch of cream gives it that unique creamy texture, somewhere between a flan and a thick pancake.

It’s perfectly normal for a clafoutis to rise in the oven and then deflate slightly as it cools. To minimize this, avoid beating the eggs too vigorously (which incorporates too much air) and opt for a gentle, even cooking method. A clafoutis tastes best when it’s dense and moist.

Yes, you can prepare the dough a few hours in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. This even allows the flour to absorb the moisture properly. However, only add the fruit just before baking to prevent it from sinking to the bottom of the pan or browning the raw dough too much.