Clafouti-sy

I just found my new last minute dessert in the French dish, clafoutis. The texture is somewhere between cake and custard and, though it was originally meant to include black cherries, works well with many different kinds of fruit. I used thawed frozen blueberries for the clafoutis in the picture though any kind of berry would be awesome. I also plan to try mangos and soursop, as both of these local fruits go great with sweet dairy.

Clafoutis is unique, delicious and easy to throw together last minute with simple instructions and basic ingredients. It's also great as a breakfast food.

I have tried two different recipes for clafoutis and prefer the cakier texture of Julia Childs's. If you are looking for a custardy version, add less flour and more cream or milk. Below is the adapted version of Julia Childs's sour cherry clafoutis.

Clafoutis 

1 1/4 cups cream (or milk for a lighter version)

2/3 sugar, divided (or less depending on type of fruit used)

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour

2 cups fruit (any type of berry, soursop, mango)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Whisk together the cream (or milk), 1/3 cup of sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour. Lightly butter an 8-cup baking dish (a large pie pan works). Pour 1/4 inch of batter into the dish and bake for 10 minutes. While that is baking, add up to 1/3 cup of sugar to whatever kind of fruit you are using. I used thawed-out frozen blueberries which only needed a few tablespoons of sugar. Berries like mulberries or tart raspberries may need a little more sugar. Soursop or mango is probably sweet enough already.

After the ten minutes, remove the pan from the oven and distribute the fruit on top. Then pour remaining batter slowly so as not to displace the fruit.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the clafoutis is puffed and brown and a knife in the center comes out clean.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired and serve warm.

Voila!