Lips like sugar on 'World Kissing Day', Cherries in the Cake with 'Clafoutis' recipe from The Haven’s Kitchen Cooking School by Alison Cayne (Artisan Books-April 2017)

Clafoutis

Makes one 8-inch round

A cross between a Dutch baby (what a great name!) and a custard, clafoutis is a traditional French countryside dessert made by pouring a nutty batter over whole cherries and then baking it. A purist would argue that using anything other than whole cherries—pit in—is heresy and does not qualify as a proper clafoutis, but rather a flaugnarde. Given that you may not enjoy dodging cherry pits as you eat, ease trumps heritage in this recipe and the cherries are pitted.

 Propriety aside, this is a dessert you can bake while you’re enjoying the main meal. Once you get the batter down, use it to make a flaugnarde with berries, stone fruits, apple slices, or chocolate chips.

1 teaspoon unsalted butter, softened

1 cup fresh or frozen cherries, pitted

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and reserved, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup sugar

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup almond meal

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch ovenproof skillet or pie dish and place it on a baking sheet.

1. Layer the cherries evenly in the bottom of the skillet. Set aside.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs by hand. Add the milk and vanilla seeds, and continue whisking to combine.

1. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the sugar and add the rest to the milk mixture. Then gently whisk in the flour and almond meal and stir until smooth. Set the batter aside to rest for 10 minutes.

1. Pour the batter over the fruit and sprinkle the reserved 1 tablespoon sugar on top.

1. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown, set, and puffy, rotating the pan after 10 minutes to ensure even browning. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick or cake tester into the center: it should come out clean.

1. Let the clafoutis rest for 10 minutes on a wire rack before slicing. The center will fall slightly as it cools.

(“Excerpted from The Haven’s Kitchen Cooking School by Alison Cayne -Artisan Books-. Copyright © 2017. Photographs by Con Poulos.")