Having come across a nice amount of yellow plums, I was thinking of what to do with them. Immediately the concept of a clafoutis entered my mind. A clafoutis is something of an in-between cake and custard dish, which is commonly made with cherries in France. It's easy to make and is really great with all kinds of fruit, so why not try it with beautiful, ripe plums? It turned out really nice; the flavors of the plums really accentuated the dish. This is great to do a little while in advance of a dinner party, it's really nice to serve slightly warm or at room temperature. This is a very simple recipe, all the ingredients are mixed in one bowl, no whipping the egg whites separately as some other recipes require. Be careful not to bake it too long however; if you overdo it the eggs can curdle, so it's important to almost underdo it and let it settle, as opposed to overdo it. serves about 6 Ingredients: - about 10 ripe plums
- butter
- 3 eggs
- 6 tbsp sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 5 tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 cup half and half (or heavy cream, milk or a combination thereof)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixer, whisk the eggs together well. Add sugar and beat for a few minutes until nice and frothy. At this point lower the speed and add the zest, vanilla extract, flour and half and half. As soon as the batter has come together, stop beating it. You don't want to overdo it. Leave the batter to settle.
Now tend to the fruit. Wash, halve and remove the bits and cut in pieces. Butter a pan (I used a 9 1/2 inch oval Le Creuset pan, however an 8x8 pyrex would also work nicely) and sprinkle it with sugar. Divide the fruit in the pan.
At this point pour the batter into the pan.
Bake in the oven 35 - 40 minutes, watching closely at the end so as to not overcook it. Let cool for at least 30 minutes or so before enjoying.
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