Ingredients

   
250g sweet cherries, pitted (~45)
5g kirsch (optional)
65g sour cream
75g granulated sugar
120g whole egg (~2 large + a little)
6g bread flour
4g cake flour (or 10g all-purpose for both)
¼ vanilla pod (or 4g vanilla extract)
35g milk

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 15×21cm (6×8in) baking dish, ~4cm deep. If using kirsch, toss the pitted cherries in it.

  2. Whisk sour cream and sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs until fully combined.

  3. Sift in the bread flour and cake flour, whisk smooth. Add the vanilla seeds and milk, whisk until glossy.

  4. Scatter the cherries in the dish. Pour the batter over them.

  5. Bake at 350°F for about 35–40 minutes, until set with just a slight wobble in the center and lightly golden on top.

  6. Cool. Serve warm or chilled.

Analysis

Total batter weight: 305g (cherries excluded)

Component Amount %
Structure solids (bread + cake flour) 10g 3.3%
Fat (sour cream, yolk) 28g 9.2%
Sugar 75g 24.6%
Liquid (sour cream water, milk, egg water) 170g 55.7%
Egg/protein 22g 7.2%

The most custardy of the clafoutis family by far: structure is just ~3% (10g flour total), while egg is high (~7% protein from 120g egg) — so it’s the eggs and sour cream, not flour, that set it. That makes it dense and tangy like a baked custard or crustless cheesecake rather than a light pancake-batter clafoutis (~10% flour) or a cakey far breton (~22%).

Notes

  • This is the custard end of the clafoutis spectrum — almost no flour (just 10g), a big egg load, and sour cream instead of milk-heavy batter. It sets like a dense, tangy baked custard, closer to a crustless cheesecake than the light pourable clafoutis.
  • The sour cream is the whole idea: its tang plays against sour or just-sweet cherries. Don’t substitute plain cream — you lose the acidity that balances the dish.
  • The two-flour mix (bread + cake) gives a little chew from the bread flour’s protein and tenderness from the cake flour, but 10g of all-purpose works fine in place of both.
  • Pack the cherries in generously — at this batter-to-fruit ratio the fruit carries the dessert.
  • For a 10-inch / Field No. 8 cast iron skillet: double everything — 130g sour cream, 150g sugar, 240g whole egg (~4–5), 12g bread flour + 8g cake flour (or 20g all-purpose), ½ vanilla pod, 70g milk, ~500g cherries. Bake at 350°F for about 45–50 minutes (deeper batter needs longer). The single batch above is sized for a small 15×21cm dish and would bake thin in the skillet.
  • Compare with our other two in this family: the classic clafoutis (~10% flour, light and pourable) and the far breton (~22% flour, dense and sliceable). This one sits below both at ~3% flour.
  • Best the day it’s made; the custard firms further in the fridge and slices cleanly cold.