I wanted to make a delicious warming winter Chocolate and Cherry dessert. I knew I would have to use canned cherries as fresh are now out of season in Australia. As for the chocolate part, I knew a White Chocolate Clafoutis was the way to go!
![Junior Masterchef Cherry & White Chocolate Clafoutis Junior Masterchef Cherry & White Chocolate Clafoutis](https://www.meatandtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cherry-Clafoutis-LR.jpg)
I have made Clafoutis before and started to wonder if white chocolate could be added to this classic French dessert. The more I thought about the white chocolate melting through the delicious light baked custard the more I knew this would be the dessert for me!
I was preparing to bake my usual Clafoutis recipe adding the two key ingredients, when I stumbled across Gary Mehigan’s recipe from the Junior Masterchef series for Cherry and White Chocolate Clafoutis. It seemed that this combination of ingredients has been tried before in a Clafoutis. Gary’s version had some lovely sounding inclusions such as orange juice and lemon zest, and I decided this would be the recipe for me.
![White Chocolate and Cherry Clafoutis w Custard White Chocolate and Cherry Clafoutis w Custard](https://www.meatandtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/White-Chocolate-and-Cherry-Clafoutis-w-Custard-LR.jpg)
If you have been reading Gourmet Getaways for a while, you may know that I can never just “make a recipe” verbatim. It’s a curse! I have made some minor adjustments and simplified the process. I also didn’t make the lovely side dishes which Gary suggested as accompaniments.
Cherry & White Chocolate Clafoutis
Lining the moulds
- 50g butter, melted
- 1/4 cup caster sugar
Filling
- 55g plain flour
- Pinch salt
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 80ml milk
- 100 ml cream
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 50g white chocolate, coarsely grated or choc bits
Marinated cherries
- 350gm pitted cherries drained
- 1 Tbsp caster sugar
- ¼ cup fresh orange juice
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Brush three 250 ml capacity shallow serving dishes with the melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with sugar shaking to cover. Shake out excess sugar. Set aside.
- Drain the cherries and combine cherries, sugar and orange juice in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Add the flour, salt, egg, egg yolk, lemon rind and vanilla bean paste to a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Combine milk and cream in a small jug and gradually whisk into mixture 1/2 at a time.
- Next add the sugar and orange juice, stir until combined.
- Drain the marinated cherries.
- Spoon the fruit into prepared dishes evenly. Add the chocolate to each of the dishes.
- Pour over the batter until each dish is 3/4 full.
- Place in preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden.
Now, just so you can have a laugh at my clumsiness I have to add a little side note. On the way to take the photo’s for this story I dropped two out of three of the desserts! Yep!! They smashed on the tiles and all was lost, beautiful dishes and all!!
![Cherry Clafoutis w White Chocolate Cherry Clafoutis w White Chocolate](https://www.meatandtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cherry-Clafoutis-w-White-Chocolate-LR.jpg)
The only one remaining was the “Ugly duckling” that I had left on the kitchen bench!!
For dessert we shared one cherry and white chocolate Clafoutis amongst four people. Needless to say, I will be making this again very soon!
![Cherry & White Chocolate Clafoutis Cherry & White Chocolate Clafoutis](https://www.meatandtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Cherry-Clafoutis-2-LR.jpg)
…oh and I had to keep Anais away from the smashed ones on the floor, while I went and got a cloth to clean up… she was prepared to eat it off the floor!
![Cherry & White Chocolate Clafoutis Cherry & White Chocolate Clafoutis](https://www.meatandtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Clafoutis-LR.jpg)