Recipes & Food Styling

Showcase stone fruits in a Paris-style clafoutis, feels like Paris in your kitchen!

There’s no better way to showcase seasonal stone fruits than in a beautiful clafoutis! In 1977, when I was 10, a family of 4 from France was stationed in our tiny town of Rothschild, Wisconsin. The oldest daughter, Laurence, was a student in my dad’s fifth grade class at Weston Elementary School. My mother invited the family to our home for dinner. They invited us back & the mother, Françoise Griset, made a fabulous Plumb Clafoutis! I remember being so fascinated, and I would give anything for a bite of it now. That first taste of France for me was better than anything like it I’ve ever eaten even the best Paris cafés. My mother made the custard dessert for many years after the Griset family returned to France. In 2016, it was pure joy when Jean-Marc Loustaunau of the sadly now-shuttered & storied Café Pyrenees restaurant in Libertyville, Illinois, made a fabulous Cherry Clafoutis for me for a food story for Chicago Tribune’s Pioneer Press papers. “The riper the fruit, the better,” Jean-Marc said.