Clafoutis
Clafoutis, sometimes spelled clafouti in Anglophone countries, is a baked French dessert of fruit, traditionally black cherries, arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The clafoutis is dusted with powdered sugar and served lukewarm, sometimes with cream.
A traditional Limousin clafoutis contains pits of the cherries. The pits contain benzaldehyde, the active chemical in almond extract adding a complementary note to its flavor. They also contain a small amount of amygdalin, that create cyanide, but are not toxic in the small amounts.Origins
The clafoutis comes from the Limousin region of France, and while black cherries are traditional, there are numerous variations using other fruits, including red cherries, plums, prunes, apples, pears, cranberries or blackberries. When other kinds of fruit are used instead of cherries, the dish is properly called a flaugnarde.
The dish's name derives from Occitan clafotís, from the verb clafir, meaning "to fill". Clafoutis apparently spread throughout France during the 19th century.
