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This Dairy & Gluten-Free Cherry Clafoutis makes the most of cherry season. It’s a quick dessert, made even more delicious with the use of alternative flours and rich coconut milk which also helps to make the recipe dairy-free.
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Cherry season must surely be my favourite fruit season. I am tearing through punnets of them like nobody’s business and the ones at the farmer’s market at the moment have been especially juicy and sweet. My fingers are constantly painted red with cherry juice but I have no regrets. They are utterly irresistible. The cherries that I’m not throwing down my gullet at every opportunity however have sought sweet solace in this beautiful gluten-free clafoutis. It’s basically like cherries baked into a dairy-free custard, absolute perfection at the end of a long lazy Sunday barbecue.
What is clafoutis?
Clafoutis is a classic French dessert of cherries baked in a flan-like batter with eggs, sugar and milk and thickened with flour. You can definitely channel your inner Julia Child whilst you prepare it.
Many modern recipes add other mixed berries to the batter as well so it can be quite versatile if you have lots of fresh fruit to use up.
However it's incredibly an easy dessert so ideal for lazy summer days when you don't really feel like making an elaborate pudding.
Should you pit the cherries for clafoutis?
There was a bit of banter on the recipes during my research over whether to pit or not to pit the cherries. It wasn’t much of a battle for me though as I am head over heels for my cherry pitter plus the fear of cracking a tooth whilst I’m supposed to be treating myself seemed unfair punishment.
Also we have four children under 7 so 'to pit' is the child friendly option. It’s true that the cherry pits can add an extra layer of flavour, intensifying the almondy tang of the cherries but I’ve made up for that by using other ultra flavourful ingredients.
Why you'll love this recipe
- So quick and easy. The cherries are just slung into a baking dish, the custard batter is whisked together in five minutes then it’s baked.
- Incredible flavour.
- Easy to make ahead as it's best served at room temperature.
- Gluten-Free. The flours used in this recipe are sweet rice flour (aka glutinous rice flour or mochiko) and oat flour.
- Dairy-free. We make this clafoutis with coconut milk.
What are the ingredients?
- Fresh seasonal cherries
- Gluten-free flours - sweet rice flour and oat flour
- Fresh lemon zest (hey - you could use lemon powder if you've jumped on that bandwagon!)
- Vanilla extract
- Coconut milk (tinned - not the drink)
- Brown sugar - mmm caramelised flavour
- Eggs
- Pinch of salt
How to make it
For full recipe instructions on this Gluten-Free Cherry Clafoutis go to the recipe card at the end of this post.Â
- Lay pitted cherries in a baking dish.
- Sift the flours together with the sugar and salt and whisk in the eggs.
- Stir together the lemon zest, vanilla extract and coconut milk then pour into the rest of the batter whisking well until smooth.
- Pour over the cherries then bake for 35-40 minutes until the clafoutis is set but still a little wobbly in the centre.
- Dust the icing sugar over the top and serve warm
How to serve it
I love this dessert, warm from the oven bedecked with a handsome dollop of ice cream. Since this is a deliberately dairy-free cherry clafoutis then I would possibly go for a dairy-free coconut ice cream but it’s up to you. If there is no ice cream to hand, then I can vouch that this dessert is perfectly acceptable naked with just a light dusting of icing sugar. It’s really all about the cherries anyway.
More gluten-free recipes you'll love
- No Bake Frozen Chocolate Cherry Pie
- Apple and Blackberry Crumble
- Ruby Berry Eton Mess
- Blackberry Lemon Pudding
- Gluten-free Cherry Cake
- Homemade Glace Cherries
- Chocolate Cherry Cake
It’s a lovely quick dessert to knock up on a whim as long as you have your cherries to hand so even though you do have to put the oven on during a balmy summer day, there’s no slaving away beforehand. The kind of luxuriously lazy baking that Nigella excels at. No effort but lots of reward.
If you make this Dairy-Free & Gluten-Free Cherry Clafoutis then please leave a comment below and/or give the recipe a rating. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own baking creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
Dairy & Gluten-Free Cherry Clafoutis
Ingredients
- 500 g cherries
- 30 g sweet rice flour
- 20 g gluten-free oat flour
- 75 g soft light brown sugar
- pinch of sea salt
- 3 medium eggs - lightly beaten
- zest of ½ lemon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250 g coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons icing sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted oven and grease a 25cm baking dish with coconut oil or baking spray.
- Remove the stalks from cherries and pit them, then lay them into the greased dish in one layer.
- Sift the flours together with the sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and whisk in the eggs until thick and smooth.
- In a measuring jug stir together the lemon zest, vanilla extract and coconut milk then pour into the rest of the batter whisking well until smooth.
- Pour the batter over the cherries then bake for 35-40 minutes until the clafoutis is set but still a little wobbly in the centre.
- Dust the icing sugar over the top and serve warm. Amazing with ice cream.
Notes
Ingredient measurements
- Please note when you see ‘grams’ listed as opposed to ‘millilitres,’ or any other term of measurement, that is not incorrect. I weigh all of my ingredients, including liquids, for accuracy.
- US customary measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups
Nutrition information
Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use. Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification. The nutrition serving is for 1 serving of clafoutis.ÂNutrition
This recipe was updated in July 2020 to clarify the method.
Gill says
Hi Georgina,
I love cherries and am thinking of making this when guests come dinner on Sunday. I only have the one oven, so will be cooking roast potatoes and Yorkshire puds, which I’d cook on a higher heat.
I’d like to serve your pud warm, so would this stand up to a quick re-heat in the microwave okay (if made earlier)? I thought about trying to keep warm with foil but suspect it would create too much moisture and make it soggy.
Any advice, on this one, please?
Thank you!
Georgina Hartley says
Yes you can re-heat in the microwave. It depends on how much you are microwaving at once but in portions about 30 seconds would be enough.
Gill says
Thank you for that. Frustratingly, I couldn’t find enough fresh cherries, last weekend but I tried your Apple Crumble recipe instead. I commented under that recipe, to say how lovely that turned out. It was delicious.
Cormac Bakewell says
I made this a few years ago and I seem to remember using glutinous rice flour (I definitely remember jumping through hoops of fire to find glutinous rice flour for something!).
Could that be correct and, if so, would it be possible to get the old recipe?
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Cormac, glutinous rice flour and sweet rice flour are exactly the same flour - they just go by two different names (oh and you can also buy it as mochiko flour for extra confusion). So rest assured this is the same recipe!
Cormac Bakewell says
Perfect - thank you, Georgina!