Fried Egg

Don’t let the name fool you. This “fried egg” is a clever dessert that uses homemade clabber (thickened milk) as the “egg white” and a peach half as the “yolk." Spooned onto a plate and flattened, the white clabber with a golden peach half on top looks remarkably like a sunny-side-up egg.

The clabber is the simplest cultured dairy you can make at home. Two cups of milk mixed with two tablespoons of buttermilk, stirred, and left at room temperature for 24 hours. The live cultures in the buttermilk sour and thicken the milk into something resembling a loose yogurt or thick creme fraiche. It’s tangy, mild, and creamy.

The 24-hour wait is the entire “cooking” process. The milk needs to stay undisturbed at room temperature while the bacteria do their work. Don’t stir it or move it during this time. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s noticeably thicker and has a pleasant sour tang.

Use canned or fresh peach halves with the cut side down. The rounded, golden surface mimics an egg yolk perfectly. It’s a great dessert to serve when you want to surprise people at the table.

Kitchen Tips

• Use whole milk for the thickest, richest clabber. Skim or low-fat milk will thicken but stays much thinner.
• The buttermilk must contain live active cultures for this to work. Check the label. Ultra-pasteurized buttermilk without cultures won’t sour the milk.
• Room temperature matters. In a cold kitchen, the clabber may need closer to 30 hours. In a warm kitchen, it can be ready in 18.