It’s the beginning of stone fruit season in much of the nation, which means sweet eating is in store for the next few months.  Right now, I’m swooning over cherries, their deep purple-red flesh whispering sweet nothings in my ear during their brief visit to my neighborhood farm market.

Although they make superb TV snacks, fresh cherries bring new meaning to batters of the cakey variety.  The French, in particular,  have a brilliant cherry truque up their sleeves with a homey dessert called clafoutis (pronounced CLA-FOO-TEE).

Part cake, custard and maybe even a wee bit of waffle, clafoutis is undeniably all about the fruit, and it doesn’t get much better than with cherries (known as cerises en Francais).  A slightly sweetened egg batter gets a quick spin in a food processor, and in less than 10 minutes, it’s in the oven, with dessert ready in about an hour -- about the same amount time it takes to mix the contents of an instant-presto box

If you’ve been nervous about jumping the cake mix ship, clafoutis make for a no-fuss bridge into cake-from-scratch world. If cherries are not your bag, other soon-to-come stone fruit – plums, apricots and nectarines ---are delicious stand-ins. Amusez-vous bien!

Cherry hounds, the National Cherry Festival kicks off July 5 in Traverse City, Mich.

Cherry Clafoutis 

Adapted from "Saveur Cooks Authentic French"

Ingredients
2 cups cherries, pitted (using a pitter or paring knife)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Zest of one lemon, minced
7 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (depending on tartness of cherries)
Butter for greasing pan
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place pitted cherries in a mixing bowl. Add almond extract, cinnamon, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar. Stir and let fruit macerate (soak in its juices) for about 30 minutes.

3. Grease a 9-inch cast-iron skillet or baking dish of similar size.

4. In the bowl of a food processor, add vanilla extract, eggs, milk, salt, flour and remaining sugar. Blend for about one minute, until ingredients are well mixed.

5. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Spoon cherries on top. They will seem like they are floating, but don't worry.

6. Place dish on a baking sheet (this protects the clafoutis from burning) and bake about 35 minutes. Center should jiggle slightly. Overbaked clafoutis (anything over 45 minutes) will most likely turn out dry.

7. Cool for at least 20 minutes and serve in slices. For leftovers, keep covered in refrigerator and eat cold or warmed up.