Saturday 10 December 2011

Clafoutis

The traditional French dessert Clafoutis is tenderness itself! This beautiful dish is created by baking various fruits and berries in a light batter. It is so simple to make and very quick - there is little reason not to give it a go!

Originally Clafoutis was made with cherries and I’m sure there are a few purists and traditionalists out there who refuse to call a dish Clafoutis if it contains other fruits, but really you can use any kind of fruit and berries (in fact I recommend it!).

Here is my Clafoutis, which was made with a variety of berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries). A little bit too much, perhaps, but I had small amounts of each left over and decided to make use of them all at once. This Clafoutis was delicious – but I have to tell you that one I made with soft, ripe figs was out of this world – simply divine! Unfortunately, it didn’t last long enough for me to photograph it, but if you want to make it with figs, just replace the berries with fresh, ripe figs in the recipe below (quarter the figs) - you can also skip the first step and simply place the quartered figs into the buttered dishes.

I have made this dish in individually-sized portions using ramekins or small baking dishes or in a family-sized portion using a single baking dish to serve from the table – both work really well.




Ingredients:


400g of berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries) or your choice
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp caster sugar


For the batter:

50g ground almonds
2 tbsp plain flour
100g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
250g double cream

Butter for greasing the dish(es)
Icing sugar for dusting 
 

Serves 6



Method:


Heat the oven to 190C (375°F)/ 170C Fan (325°F)/ gas mark 5.

Mix the berries in a large bowl, add the 2 tbsp of caster sugar and lemon juice and set aside for 30 minutes (reserve a small handful of berries for the garnish later).

For the batter, put all ingredients in a blender/mixing bowl and mix for a several seconds to a smooth consistency.

Grease the dish(es) by smearing the surface with butter, place the berries on the base and pour in the batter, leaving the tops of the berries peaking through.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. When ready to serve, add a few of the reserved berries on top as a garnish and dust with icing sugar. It can be served warm or is equally delicious cold (the flavours appear to be enhanced when left to cool), but in our house it rarely gets a chance to cool down!


Bon appétit

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