The Cherry Goodie That's Easy to Make, Fun to Say

Cherry season is well under way. I love this time of year, when locally harvested summer berries appear in the grocery store with a generous price slash (ah, the economics of abundance). I buy cherries weekly, and enjoy the proverbial bowl while I work.

But I feel these balls of pep deserve something more than hand-to-mouth, a more romantic preparation that adequately conveys my cherry-love.

While in culinary school, I was taught a dish called clafouti (pronounced: cla-foo-TEE). The dish stayed with me because it was fun to say, and almost guiltily easy to make, unlike most of what I learned in my pastry program.

The dish is from Limoges, France, and locals consider it a proper clafouti only when made with fresh cherries. To take it a step further, purists insist on using cherries with their pits still inside, as the pits are said to contribute flavor. ...