Can you bake a cherry pie? If not, try clafoutis

Cherries are a hopeful fruit. With their shiny, firm skin and perky stems pointing every which way, they're asking to be chosen. Come summer, they get what they want. And though it's hard to find anyone who dislikes cherries, it's just as hard to get someone to confess to eating a pound at a time.

Believed to be one of the oldest fruits in the world, cherries were brought to America by colonists who had grown them in England and France. Settlers from the Normandy region of France planted trees around the Great Lakes, and today, Michigan produces most of the sour cherries and many of the sweet ones now available.

Bing cherries are a common variety in our markets, mostly shipped from Washington state. They have a juicy sweetness, and the texture is rich and meaty. They're perfect by the handful. Use them in baking pies and in a French dessert called clafoutis (pronounced cla-foo-TEE), or use the smaller sour cherries, less widely available.

A dish from the Limousin region of south-central France, clafoutis is believed to have been made there since the late 1800s. It's made with common ingredients and a simple, pancakelike batter. (Outside cherry season, substitute prunes, currants, apples, or pears.) Defined in "Larousse Gastronomique" as "a homely preparation," clafoutis is a moist cake of eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. Traditionally, French cooks add the cherries whole, as the pits are thought to contribute flavor.

With mild sweetness and a texture falling somewhere between a flan and a crepe, clafoutis is an understated dessert. The cherries are the highlight, maintaining their meatiness and staining the mellow, custardy cake with their sweet juices. Serve clafoutis after dinner or for breakfast, or take it along on a picnic.

It will delight the pound-at-a-time cherry lovers and mighteven convert the rare person who dislikes these charming fruits.