Stone Fruits Week Recipe #3: Clafoutis, an eggy, fruit-laden French dessert that’s a cross between a torte and a giant baked pancake; its crepe-like batter is a snap to blitz in the blender. This particular recipe, created by Corinne Trang for the May/June 1998 issue of Saveur, is not exceptionally sweet, but it makes a great showcase for ripe black cherries.

Recipe

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1-1/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons kirsch
pinch salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups black cherries, pitted or unpitted
confectioners' sugar for serving

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425°. Generously butter a 9'' cast-iron skillet or baking dish. Combine vanilla extract, eggs, sugar, milk, kirsch, and salt in a blender. Blend for a few seconds to mix ingredients, then add flour and blend until smooth, about 1 minute.

2. Pour batter into buttered skillet, then distribute cherries evenly over top. Bake until a skewer inserted into batter comes out clean and a golden brown crust has formed on top and bottom of clafoutis, about 30 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Serves 8 to 10.

Note: The magazine suggests baking the cherries unpitted to give the clafoutis more flavor, but in the interest of my husband's costly dental work I chose to pit them. To compensate for the flavor, I added a quarter teaspoon of almond extract. After sampling a big slab of clafoutis for breakfast, I decided the pitted cherries might be better. It's up to you. Also, since the batter itself has just a little sugar, you might not want to skip the dusting of confectioner's sugar.