Bourbon-Peach Clafoutis

Name: Bourbon-Peach Clafoutis
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 3 eggs (room temperature); 1 cup whole milk; ½ cup sugar; 2 tablespoons bourbon; 2 tablespoons salted butter (melted); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste; Pinch of salt; ½ cup all-purpose flour; 2-3 peaches (sliced); Ground cinnamon (for dusting)

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This bourbon-peach clafoutis is the perfect way to celebrate everyone's favorite summer fruit! Fresh peaches bake on top of a bourbon-spiked custard with a sprinkling of cinnamon to make one delicious summer dessert that will have everyone raving. Don't let peach season pass you by without making this easy French dessert.

Looking down on a cast-iron skillet filled with the bourbon-peach clafoutis on a summery napkin.

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What Is Clafoutis?
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
Recipe FAQs
Expert Tips
Perfect Pairing
Get More Summer Desserts
📖 Recipe

What Is Clafoutis?

Clafoutis is a custard-like tart baked with fruit — it is not a cake. This classic French dessert typically features fresh black cherries, but it’s endlessly versatile. You can bake this treat with other stone fruits besides peaches like we do here, such as plums, apricots or nectarines. Or you're welcome to branch out to other seasonal fruit favorites, such as blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, apples or pears — you name it.

Once baked, clafoutis beautifully puffs up like a soufflé or Dutch baby pancake and features a creamy, luscious texture in every bite. At the same time, it’s not overly sticky sweet to make a truly perfect dessert.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

That bourbon and peach flavor combination: Bourbon and peaches were made for each other. Bourbon features honey, vanilla and caramel notes with a touch of warm spice — all of which pair perfectly with peaches.

Simple yet impressive dessert: Clafoutis just might be the easiest dessert you’ll ever bake. If you can whisk ingredients, you can make clafoutis. But that can be our little secret. With that custardy texture, you will look like a master French baker when you serve this to guests.

Make ahead for easy entertaining: The clafoutis batter needs time to rest before baking, which means you can prepare this treat well in advance of guests arriving and then bake it right before serving so that it’s warm and fresh, right out of the oven.

Related: If you love this dessert, I bet you'll also love my peach Moscow Mule or peach martini on the side!

Ingredients

To ensure you make the absolute best peach clafoutis recipe, let’s chat about some ingredient notes.

Peaches: You can use fresh or frozen peach slices. I’ve used both, and you can’t go wrong with either option. Just thaw the peaches first.

Bourbon: Make sure you use a bourbon you’d be happy to drink. A mid-range bourbon, such a Maker’s Mark, is perfect.

All-purpose flour: This recipe has specifically been tested with all-purpose flour, which is my recommendation. I cannot vouch for other types of flour.

Whole milk: Make sure you use whole milk rather than a lower-fat variety. We’re making a custard here, and whole milk gives us the most luscious texture and richest flavor.

Cinnamon: Your typical cherry clafoutis features a powdered sugar dusting, but peaches and bourbon are wonderful with a touch of warm spice.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: We begin by whisking together the milk, eggs, bourbon, melted butter, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt in a large bowl (photo 1).

Whisking the wet ingredients together in a stainless steel mixing bowl on a wooden surface.

Step 2: Now we sprinkle the flour on top (photo 2) and whisk again to combine (photo 3). Some people prefer to use a blender to mix the batter, but I like having more control with a whisk. With our clafoutis batter prepared, we cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to rest or even overnight.

A collage showing the process of adding the flour and whisking to make the batter.

Step 3: We pull the batter out of the refrigerator and pour it into our baking dish, place peach slices on top and sprinkle with cinnamon (photo 3). Our dish is now ready to bake. I love to use a 10-inch cast-iron skillet for a more rustic look, but a pie plate also works nicely for a more elegant presentation.

The clafoutis batter in a cast-iron skillet with peaches on top before baking.

After about 35-40 minutes, our bourbon-peach clafoutis is ready. The entire dessert will have puffed up and developed a lightly browned crust on the surface.

All that’s left is to spoon onto plates and enjoy every delicious bite. Bonus points for serving with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream. And if you can't get enough peach desserts, you'll also love this peach mango pie.

Recipe FAQs

Should clafoutis be served hot or cold?

While clafoutis can be served hot, room temperature or cold, I recommend serving it warm, right out of the oven. The peaches come out nice and bubbly, and that warm, creamy custard just fills your happy belly for a comforting dessert when it’s perfectly warm. This is when clafoutis is at its best.

Do you have to let the batter rest?

Yes, this step is non-negotiable because the flour’s gluten needs time to rest after whisking. Otherwise, you could end up with a rubbery clafoutis, and you don’t want that. On a positive note, this is what makes this dessert so great for entertaining — it needs to be prepared ahead of time.

What’s the best temperature for baking clafoutis?

I’ve seen temperatures range from 325-375 degrees F. However, I prefer to bake it at a low 325 degrees. Considering that we’re dealing with a custard, that more gentle heat helps keep it from curdling.

How do you store clafoutis?

If you have any leftovers, store the clafoutis in an airtight container for three to four days. Since it’s a custard-based dessert, we definitely want to keep it refrigerated. To reheat, you can microwave it in short intervals until it’s heated to your liking.

Alternatively, you can cover it in foil and reheat in the oven just until warm, about five to 10 minutes. If you reheat in the oven, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes first, especially if you opted to bake it in a ceramic or glass dish. A hot oven can crack a cold baking dish.

Expert Tips

Use room-temperature large eggs: Room-temperature eggs incorporate into batters much better than cold eggs. Simply let the eggs sit at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to mixing. If you forget this step, you can speed up the process by placing the eggs in warm — not hot — water for 10 minutes.

A little depuffing is normal: When the clafoutis immediately comes out of the oven, it will be extremely puffed up and then will deflate a bit after it cools for a few minutes. No need to fret here.

Let rest for five minutes and then serve: This gives the custard time to set, and it will still be nice and warm.

Perfect Pairing

I love a Belgian-style quad with this bourbon-peach clafoutis. Quads are high in ABV with sweet caramel notes, which is a great batch for the bourbon, and they come with a thick mouthfeel that stands up to the dense custard. As a bonus, I’ve enjoyed many Belgian-styles quads aged in bourbon barrels, so the two are a natural fit.

An oak-forward chardonnay is also a lovely match. The vanilla undertones from the oak are delicious with the peach, and that buttery texture of the chardonnay fits right in with the custard.

If you’re looking for a cocktail, you can’t go wrong with anything that includes both peaches and bourbon. Fortunately, I have two tasty options for you: a peach-maple bourbon smash or a peach-brown sugar mint julep.

For a summery take on a classic French country dessert, you will love this bourbon-peach clafoutis. It’s the perfect way to celebrate peach season in all its glory.

Cheers!

The bourbon-peach clafoutis in a cast-iron skillet with a bottle of Maker's Mark in the background against a fabric background.

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