Cherry clafoutis from the Limousin region of France was made famous in the United States by none other than Julia Child. You may be surprised to learn that fresh, whole cherries, pits and all, are often used in this flat, cake-like dessert, but sweet frozen cherries can also be used as a convenient shortcut when making this dish.

Having your cherries already pitted when you start assembling clafoutis is a must, and if you hate pitting cherries one by one, frozen cherries — already pitted — are an excellent shortcut. Once the dessert is baked, there's not much of a difference between frozen cherries and fresh, but you still need to do a bit of prep work.

Frozen cherries will need time to thaw, drain, and be patted dry with a paper towel before you add them to clafoutis batter and bake it, or else the excess liquid will make the dessert soggy. Also, if you're using very juicy fruits like berries in clafoutis, dry them out in the oven for a little while to also prevent a soggy result.