Gluten Free Almond Cherry Clafoutis

Cherries are still in season but not for much longer. So before they are officially off the shelves as fresh produce until next year, I wanted to bake another yummy cake with cherries, this time a gluten free cake.

Clafoutis or clafouti (since you don’t pronounce the "s") is a classic French dessert usually made with cherries. There are other versions of the cake using other fruits like plums, prunes, apples, pears and other berries like cranberries and blackberries. I went with the original classic fruit and used cherries.

The cherries are arranged in a round baking pan as one single layer and covered with a cake batter. Originally the cherries are baked as a whole including the kernels. I used pitted cherries for safer eating. The kernel of the cherries are adding an almondy flavor when baked, so I just added almond extract to compensate for that.

The name Clafoutis is coming from the verb "clafir" which means "to fill". The cake batter is filled with cherries. This dessert is originally made with flour, but I wanted to change it to a gluten-free dessert so I used ground almonds and potato starch. This change makes the cake kosher for Passover too.

Apart from the change to a gluten-free cake, I also made it parve, with no dairy products. Instead of regular milk, I used almond milk that goes well with the almond flavor the cake already has. In addition, I omitted the butter completely. I find that you don’t need to replace the butter with something else since the ground almonds add natural oils and that's enough. One last change for this recipe was for the sugar, I used maple syrup instead of sugar. This makes the cake free of refined sugar.

The ingredients for this yummy gluten free clafoutis are cherries, eggs, almond milk, ground almonds, potato starch, maple syrup, vanilla and almond extract.

The process of making the cake starts, as I mentioned before, by arranging the cherries in a baking pan as one single layer. Then you mix all the other ingredients in a bowl. It will be a rather watery cake batter, this is fine and is the right consistency. The baked clafoutis texture reminds a flan or a thick custard and is not meant to be an airy cake. That is why there is no baking powder or baking soda in the recipe.

For garnish you can sprinkle some powdered sugar or just serve the cake as is. I didn’t garnish the cake at all. The cake has a rustic look and a great sweet flavor but is not very sweet. I think you don’t need more than that to wow your family and guests. If you prefer very sweet cakes than add the powdered sugar.

The cherry and almond flavors of the cake are a very delicious combination and everyone in my family loved this cake. This cake is perfect for summer and get-togethers. I find it great to enjoy the fresh summer fruits and it fit different people on different diets. If you want to make the cake with frozen cherries, it is possible too. Be sure to thaw them completely and drain the excess liquids before using it. Otherwise they will add too much liquid and change the cake consistency.

The recipe yields one cake in a 10inch | 24cm pan

For more gluten-free cakes and recipes, check out my gluten free recipe index.

Here is the recipe for this delicious gluten-free clafoutis: