Great Chef Thierry Rautureau

Bing Cherry Clafouti
Thierry Rautureau
Seattle WA

Chef Thierry Rautureau makes the most of Washington´s fresh cherries with this dessert, which he makes with fresh poached cherries. But he also gives instructions for making preserved cherries, which can be used in the clafouti. Clafouti is a traditional French dessert in which cherries are embedded in a batter and baked.

Serves 6

Poached Cherries
1 cup fresh Bing cherries, pitted
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups water
2 tablespoons Kirsch liqueur

To poach the cherries: Combine all ingredients in a pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, reducing the heat when the mixture begins to boil. Poach for 4 minutes. Cool in the poaching liquid.

Or

Preserved Cherries
1 pound fresh Bing cherries, pitted
2 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1 ounce Kirsch liqueur
1 vanilla bean, split

To preserve the cherries: Familiarize yourself with canning techniques before trying this, as a jar sealed too tightly when it is cooked can explode. You want the top just tight enough to allow bubbles to get out of the jar, but no cooking water to get back in. The cooking process is to destroy bacteria in the jars before they are sealed.

Put the ingredients in a heavy saucepan, scraping the vanilla seeds out of the pods into the pan. Drop in the pods. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Lift out the vanilla pods with tongs. Place the cherries in sterilized canning jars and pour the pan liquid over the cherries. Loosely cap with canning lids; do not seal at this point. Place the jars in a large pot and submerge in cold water. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 15 minutes, or until all bubbles are out of the jars. When ready, lift the jars from the water with heavy tongs, tighten the caps, and stand upside-down to cool. Keeps indefinitely.

Clafouti Batter
3 eggs
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1 vanilla bean, split
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Garnish
2 or 3 sprigs of lavender or corn flowers, torn into petals
1 anise sprig, torn into fronds
1 cup creme anglaise

To make the clafouti: Put the eggs, sugar, cream, milk, and flour in a mixing bowl. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixture, then drop in the pods. Beat the mixture together until smooth. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve, put back in the bowl, and let stand for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Butter 6 individual souffle dishes and sprinkle with sugar; turn to coat the insides with sugar, then dump out any excess. Place the dishes on a baking sheet. Cut at least 12 poached or preserved cherries into quarters. Place the cherry pieces in the bottoms of the prepared souffle dishes. Ladle batter over the cherries. Bake for 25 minutes, or until set.

To serve: Serve warm or cooled. Loosen around the edges with the point of a knife, then unmold near the top of each serving plate. Spoon poaching liquid or preserved juice around the clafouti. Drizzle the plates with creme anglaise. Place 3 cherries on each plate. Garnish with flower petals and anise fronds.