I love having a few recipes in my repertoire that I know I can always whip up at a moment’s notice. There’s something very satisfying about being able to pull a few key ingredients out of your fridge and pantry and then bringing them together to create something a little special. Enter berry clafoutis. Sounds dead fancy, looks amazing straight out the oven (because let’s be honest, sometimes we do want to impress), but really is quite quick and easy to make.
If you’ve never encountered clafoutis before, it’s essentially a custardy-like flan, studded with fruit, which originated in France. It’s traditionally made with cherries, but virtually any fruit can be used. For this recipe, I had blueberries and raspberries that needed eating up, so in they went! It’s not too sweet, is light and creamy and can easily be dressed up. Really, what’s not to love…
I really like the Epicurious clafoutis recipe, as it contains staples that are always on hand in my house . A lot of other clafoutis recipes utilise almond meal and cream, which are beautiful ingredients (and provide spectacular results), but I don’t always have them… and sometimes when you get a hankering, you don’t necessarily want to zip out to the shops, you just want to make your dessert and eat it too.
I am also indebted to CLTZ from Santa Barbara, California who left a comment full of tips on the original Epicurious recipe, and excellent advice it is. It’s the beautiful thing about online recipe sharing – cooks from all over the world offer insights and tweaks that really can be game-changing.
What you’ll need
- One cup of full fat milk
- Three eggs
- Half a cup of caster sugar
- One teaspoon of vanilla extract (I prefer vanilla bean paste)
- Two tablespoons of melted butter (plus a little extra for lightly buttering your cooking vessel/s)
- Half a cup of plain flour
- A few pinches of salt
- Half a punnet each of blueberries and raspberries
How to do it
- Preheat a fan-forced oven to 160°C. In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, whisking in between, then whisk in the flour until the mixture is lump-free. Gradually add the milk, whisking as you go.
- Pour your mixture into baking vessel (I use a round cast-iron skillet, but individual ramekins or a flan dish also work… cooking times may vary slightly though.) Carefully press your fruit into the top of the mixture and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.
Your clafoutis will rise spectacularly in the oven, but don’t be dismayed when it deflates soon after – it’s not you, it’s the clafoutis. It’ll still be tasty.
I think clafoutis is best served warm straight out the oven, sprinkled with icing sugar – good quality vanilla bean ice-cream if you want to dress it up. In saying that, it still tastes pretty good zapped in the microwave the following day too ;).
Have a wonderful week.
M. x
Wattle and Ash 