Clafoutival

My recent guessing game was quite the success, but unfortunately I'm not even sure if anybody got the last question right! Yes, the dessert in question was clafouti, yes the fruits on the right were figs and muscat grapes, but the plums on the left were tiny mirabelles, or cherry plums. Indeed they are no bigger than large cherries, and can be easily pitted in the same way. But I'm not really up on my Latin plum names, so I can't confirm or deny Kisa's idea that they're "prunus domestica," although I don't think so.















Thanks to the book above, Les Clafoutis de Christophe, I've been making a number of seasonal clafoutis, which are always a big hit because many French people only know the traditional cherry version. Above you can see the fruit ingredients for a raisin and "chasselas" grape version and a sautéed apple base.


Clafoutis are really terribly simple to make -- you just prepare the fruit base, cover it with a crêpe-like batter, and bake for about half an hour to forty minutes in a 180°C (350° F) oven.

I use Felder's book for inspiration, but I don't really follow his batter recipe. He calls for a 200°C (400° F) oven, which in my kitchen would overbake the dessert. His ingredients also include two eggs and two egg yolks, which I use occasionally when I'm feeling festive, but I find four whole eggs do the trick. Unlike a traditional clafouti, his recipe does not include flour, which he replaces with Maizena cornstarch. I think this makes the clafouti too flan-like, so I use 4 tablespoons of flour (still not a lot compared to some recipes) rather than the four tablespoons of cornstarch.

I often make two different clafoutis for a dinner party, that way the guests have a choice but usually they want to taste both!

There are plenty of recipes for clafouti in English floating around the Internet, so don't hesitate to give it a try. I trust Orangette , though, if you're looking for a specific suggestion. Kisa also suggested the cherry clafouti recipe on Saveur.com. Just remember that what works with one fruit will work with another. You can make savory clafoutis too, but that will have to be the subject of another post!