Raspberry Clafoutis

Sometimes, I like to pretend I’m French.

Oh, come on.  You know you do it too .

There’s something about the French, a certain je ne sais quoi, that’s so appealing.  You feel it in their iconic class, their joie de vivre, their simplistic elegance, and of course their food.  Enough to make anyone fall head over heels, n’est pas?

There’s so much to French cuisine that even if I knew it all, it would probably take me a year to tell you about it.  It’s amazing.  & then there’s the country itself.  Did you know that there are French territories all over the world where people can vote in elections to European Parliament?

I can tell you a little about this dessert, though.  The clafoutis is a kind of baked custard, native to the Limousin region of southern France (where limousines come from!).  Although historically made with cherries, varieties featuring other berries and fruits are often seen (called flaugnardes).  The raspberry bush in my parent’s garden is producing more fruit than anyone can eat, so a lot of the berries found a new home in this pudding.

On to the food!

Raspberry Clafoutis/Flaugnarde (adapted from Honest Fare)

1/3 cup sugar+extra

3 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 1/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp lime zest

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups raspberries(can easily be substituted with other fruit/berries)

1. Preheat oven to 350*F/180*C.

2. Using a blender, whirl together 1/3 cup sugar with all other ingredients except for the fruit.

3. Pour some of the blender mixture into a lightly greased baking dish, enough to make a layer about 1/4-inch thick. Bake until set.

4. Remove from oven and evenly top with fruit. Sprinkle with sugar, and evenly cover with the rest of the blender mix.  Note the lone blueberry, it just wants to be loved.

5. The original instructions say to bake for 45-60 minutes, until a knife comes out of the centre clean. I baked mine for 1 hour 40 minutes, and the knife still wasn’t completely clean, so I just took it out anyway. The top of the clafoutis should have inflated and browned.

Although the top of my clafoutis did not exactly come out beautiful (it’s rustic, rustic!), it certainly tasted that way. Although the custard-y base was delicate, you could still pick up the notes of vanilla, lime, and raspberry in its folds. The tart seediness of the berries made a nice contrast in both texture and flavour to the smooth sweetness of the custard. The sides cook up beautifully, and would probably make self-containing bowls in miniature versions (with a non-destructive way to remove them from the sides of the baking container). Honestly worth turning on the oven during these days so hot you could eat your weight in watermelon.

Bon Appetit!