This summer, I became obsessed with making clafoutis — big baked custardy fruit pancakes. If you look up the definition of clafoutis, it is referred to as a tart or fruit covered with flan. But, I think the taste and texture is more like a big thick crepe or custardy pancake.
Regardless, they are delicious for breakfast served with maple syrup or for dessert with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Truthfully, it is almost as good the next day sliced and eaten straight from the fridge. My good friend Bob Blumer suggested that I call the recipe “James and the Giant Peach Pancake.”
The first time I ever had clafoutis, I was living with a French family in the Loire Valley for the purpose of learning to speak French. The family didn’t speak English, so it was the perfect place to practice my French. If I wanted anything, I had to say it in French. Meals were full of chatter and my brain sometimes hurt from thinking and speaking in a foreign language but the food was the trade-off. It was simple, rustic and good.
One Sunday, the “Madame” of the family bought fresh cherries at the market, and decided to make the classic “clafoutis aux cerises.” It smelled and looked divine and I couldn’t wait to taste it. It came to the table still a bit warm and she cut big wedges for each of us. I saw a big ripe cherry gleaming up at me and took a big bite. and crunch! I almost broke my tooth in two. No one had bothered to tell me that Madame made her clafoutis in the traditional way without pitting the cherries. Literally, the pitfall of rustic country cooking. Nonetheless, I fell in love with clafoutis.