Breakfast Clafoutis
Submitted by burgers
A French-inspired breakfast clafoutis with butter-sauteed seasonal fruit baked in a lemony egg batter until puffed and golden. Use cherries, blueberries, peaches, or whatever fruit is in season.
YIELD
2 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
30 minREADY
50 minClafoutis is essentially a fancy French pancake that puffs up in the oven like it’s showing off. And honestly? It has every right to.
Fresh fruit gets a quick sauté in butter until it’s glossy and soft, then a simple lemon-scented batter goes right on top and the whole skillet slides into a hot oven. Twenty minutes later you’ve got a golden, custardy, fruit-studded beauty that looks like you trained at Le Cordon Bleu.
The beauty of this recipe is its flexibility. Cherries are the classic choice, but blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and plums all work beautifully with the seasons.
Chef Tips
- Let the batter rest while you prep the fruit. Even 10 minutes helps the flour hydrate and gives you a smoother, more tender result.
- Don’t overmix the batter. A few small lumps are fine and better than a tough, overworked clafoutis.
- Serve immediately. Like a soufflé, clafoutis deflates as it cools, so bring the skillet right to the table.
- A dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche on top adds a tangy contrast to the sweet fruit.
Ingredients
blueberries, , raspberries, or cranberries, or 12 oz. (approx.), cherries, peaches, or plums *
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425.
Wash and prepare the fruit.
Cherries should be stemmed and, if desired, pitted.
Plums or peaches should be pitted and cut into bite-sized pieces; commercial cranberries should be cut in half; small wild cranberries, blueberries, or raspberries need only be picked over to remove stem pieces and debris.
Make lemon sugar by mixing the lemon zest with the 2 tablespoons sugar in a small dish.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs gently and whisk in the milk.
Add the wet to the dry ingredients a little at a time, whisking smooth.
Stir in the lemon sugar. Let the batter rest while the fruit is being cooked. In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat, coating the bottom and the sides halfway to the rim. When the butter is bubbling, add the fruit. Stir until each piece has softened and is coated with butter, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then sprinkle in sugar to sweeten. We use about 2 tablespoon of granulated sugar for all fruit except cranberries (which require about twice as much) and peaches (where we prefer brown sugar). When this sugar has dissolved and turned into a syrup--about 2 minutes--stir up the batter and scrape it carefully into the pan over the fruit. Put the skillet into the oven to bake for about 20 minutes. At this point the clafoutis will be set, golden brown, and puffed up at the edges. Divide into warmed bowls, sift a little confectioners’ sugar over each, and top if you like with a spoonful of sour cream.
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