Clafouti is a cake and custard all in one. It’s easy to make a delicious both warm and at room temperature, making it perfect for a picnic. We like to use a mixture of cherries and types of mint, but this is also good with just one variety of each.

Three-Cherry Clafouti with Mint
Arrows Restaurant, Ogunquit

½ cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups half-and-half
4 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups cherries, preferably a mix of red, black Bing, and Rainier, washed and pitted
1 cup loosely packed mint leaves, preferably a mix of varieties such as pineapple, spearmint, and chocolate, washed and dried

Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 10-inch round baking dish, such as a pie dish or a fluted ceramic tart mold, and sprinkle the 1 Tablespoon sugar over the bottom of the dish.

Stir together the flour and ½ cup sugar. Whisk the half-and-half, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl, then whisk in the flour mixture to make a smooth batter.

Arrange the cherries in the bottom of the dish and slowly pour the batter on top to cover them evenly. Bake for 30 minutes until the custard is puffy, golden brown and seems set when the dish is lightly tapped. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for at least 1 hour. The clafouti can be stored well wrapped at room temperature for up to 1 day.

When ready to serve, stack the mint leaves in piles of about 8 leaves each. Using a very sharp chef’s knife, thinly slice the leaves crosswise. Cut the clafouti into 10 wedges and transfer to individual plates with a metal spatula. Sprinkle with strips of mint.

Serves 10.

Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier are the chef-owners of Arrows restaurant in Ogunquit.