Classic French Clafoutis

[chefzadi]

What are sour cherries? I assume that they are sour in flavor.

The French black cherries are very sweet.

[carswell]

Straying off topic here but... They can be air-dried, sun-dried or dried in a dehydrator or very slow oven. As far as I know, they are always pitted and usually cut in half before being dried, skin side down. They can be simmered beforehand in sugar syrup or sprinkled with sugar before drying. For details, do a web search on "drying cherries" or some such, or post a query on the Cooking board.

Edited March 21, 2005 by carswell (log)

[artisanbaker]

i prefer sour cherries in my clafoutis with no additional sugar. can't wait for summer

[carswell]

What are sour cherries? I assume that they are sour in flavor. 

The French black cherries are very sweet.

←

Sour cherries are especially popular in the Midwest and Northeast, I assume because they're hardier or less susceptible to spring frost damage. One of the most popular varieties, montmorency, is French in origin. The flavour is closer to morello cherries (griottes) than to, say bings.

Edited March 21, 2005 by carswell (log)

[Wolfert]

Egullet is so great!~ I can post a bit of extraneous material on clafoutis that I love, but couldn't fit into the revised edition of the Cooking of SWF

So here it is: A local in the Limousin told me that Curnonsky dubbed the Prince of Gastronomes in the 1920's, said that a true clafoutis could only be made by someone with Limousin blood running through her\his arteries, and only if the small and tangy, sour black cherries grown in the region were used.

If you didn't have the luck to be born there , then you should travel 20 km down the road to the the Correze, and make a flagnaude with their local pears.

Edited March 21, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[Adam Balic]

I love clafoutis. Brings back happy memories of stealing cherrys in the Macon.

So it was YOU! You never know who's reading the boards. What year was this?

←

2000. It was my honeymoon, which means that it is O.K. Stolen fruit always tastes better.

[cjsadler]

We settled on making a clafouti for dessert tonight, but I'm still seriously confused as to what clafouti is actually supposed to be. From recipes I've made and from clafouti I've been served in restaurants, there seems to be huge variation. Some are simply a thickened pudding and others are more like a pancake (and some are eggy, rubbery things somewhat like a sweet, souffleed quiche that are not to my liking at all). Not knowing what the end result is causes problems. For example: many recipes say it should puff and be browned.... but if the goal is a custard, then it seems like waiting until 'puffed and brown' results in one seriously overcooked custard (this is the eggy quiche version that I've turned out at home a few times. If the recipe only has one or two eggs, though, if you bake to the puffed brown stage, you'll get a pancake like thing that's nothing exciting).

What would you get if you ordered clafouti in a good French bistro? (or would it vary there too?) Can puffed and brown co-exist with non-rubbery pudding?

[carswell]

We settled on making a clafouti for dessert tonight, but I'm still seriously confused as to what clafouti is actually supposed to be.  From recipes I've made and from clafouti I've been served in restaurants, there seems to be huge variation.  Some are simply a thickened pudding and others are more like a pancake (and some are eggy, rubbery things somewhat like a sweet, souffleed quiche that are not to my liking at all).    Not knowing what the end result is causes problems.  For example:  many recipes say it should puff and be browned.... but if the goal is a custard, then it seems like waiting until 'puffed and brown' results in one seriously overcooked custard (this is the eggy quiche version that I've turned out at home a few times.  If the recipe only has one or two eggs, though, if you bake to the puffed brown stage, you'll get a pancake like thing that's nothing exciting).   

What would you get if you ordered clafouti in a good French bistro?  (or would it vary there too?)  Can puffed and brown co-exist with non-rubbery pudding?

←

The story goes that when the Académie française defined clafoutis as a flan the inhabitants of the Limousin region, the home of clafoutis, protested so fiercely that the Académie ended up revising itself and defining the dish as a kind of cake. I think of it as somewhere in-between: an eggy pancake batter liberally studded with fruits. Most traditional recipes I've seen call for two eggs and milk, not cream. It puffs a little though nothing like a soufflé. If the top hasn't browned when the batter is cooked through, simply run it under the broiler for a minute or two. I don't recall ever having an excellent traditional clafoutis in a restaurant; it's too homey for many places and doesn't lend itself to elegant individual portions.

[chefpeon]

Anyone know the difference between clafouti and Far Breton? Other than the fruits are different.

All I know is that they're both awful, no matter how they come out. I will never like Clafouti.

It's like it's trying to be something, but who knows what......yipes.

[carswell]

Anyone know the difference between clafouti and Far Breton? Other than the fruits are different.

All I know is that they're both awful, no matter how they come out. I will never like Clafouti.

It's like it's trying to be something, but who knows what......yipes.

←

They're similar though the far is eggier (it's often referred to as a flan) and usually has a higher ratio of batter to fruit. I love them both but then I've never met a cake I really liked and I turn my nose up at all but the simplest fruit pies and tarts.

[chefzadi]

Bigger baking dishes I have, but I'm unconvinced about the amount of flour.  What causes the puffing-up reaction, if not the flour?  What I made was a custard, basically.

Actually it's the eggs that will provide the puffing. The flour is there to give some added structure and keep the eggs from curdling when they're fully cooked. A true clafouti is basically a baked custard thickened slightly with flour. Too much flour will make the finished dish heavy and chewy.

←

mnfoodie, try baking flour without a leavening agent. Nightscotsman knows of which he speaks. Martha Stewart's recipe looks okay to me. But I'd recommend Paula Wolfert's. I think that she posted the recipe on egullet and there is a photo of the finished product in the France forum in this thread.

[Corinna Dunne]

I love clafoutis and so do my family. The trick is to serve it warm, that's when it is at its best. I always use the Larouse recipe which has only failed me once.

Regarding fruit, I would never venture away from fresh, unpitted cherries. These offer the batter a nice structure around which to rise. Also, I think the ratio of cherries to batter is important.

Larouse uses 18oz black cherries to 4 1/2 oz (1 cup) of plain all purpose flour, 2oz caster sugar, 3 well beaten eggs, 300ml of milk (not cream) and... a pinch of salt. The cherries are dusted in an additional 2 oz of castor sugar at least 30 mins beforehand, although I don't think this step has any bearing on the performance of the rise.

This is not a wow dessert, it's more rustic French cooking. Clafoutis is also delicious served as 'cake' with a nice cup of Irish breakfast tea.

[amccomb]

I made a clafouti not too long ago using some brandied cherries I brought back from Rome. Both my husband and I were blown away by how wonderful it was. It was definitely homey. The bottom was soft like a thickened pudding, and the top was almost cake-like. The very top, which was slightly browned, was slightly chewy, but not in any way rubbery. It was as though the sugar had carmelized and created a crust that reminded me of a macaroon. The dessert was not very sweet at all - just a slight hint of sweetness. We were hooked.

[cupcakequeen]

i have tried to make martha's recipe and it came out crap. try a different recipe, and it'll be fine!

[Wolfert]

recipe correction...

for anyone attempting to make the recipe for cherry clafoutis in the June issue of Food & Wine, please note there is a typographical error in step 2.

2. When the remaining milk is added to the batter, it should read 1 1/2

cups.

Unfortunately, it was printed as 3 1/2 cups.

Edited May 10, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[Wolfert]

recipe correction...

For anyone attempting to make the recipe for cherry clafoutis in the June issue of Food & Wine, please note there is a typographical error in step 2.

2. When the remaining milk is added to the batter, it should read 1 1/2

cups.

Unfortunately, it was printed as 3 1/2 cups.

[bleudauvergne]

This month's Saveurs (francais) has a recipe for a savory clafoutis. It calls for a 'plat a claufoutis'. Can anyone tell me exactly what qualities this type of receptacle has? I would normally use a shallow la creuset round or oval dish, but am wondering if there's some technical reason for using a special pan.

[Peter B Wolf]

Not to often do I comment or write in this forum (Pastry etc.)

But always browse.

Clafoutis being one of my favorites

Therefor the following recipe has never failed me, even when prepared in a larger pan vs. the individual dishes

Here goes:

"Clafoutis Chaud aux Framboises

Warm Clafoutis with Raspberries

8 ounces shelled almonds

3/4 cup flour

9 large eggs, seprated

1 1/3 cups sugar

10 ounces(2 1/2 sticks)unsalted butter, melted

1 cup powered sugar

2 cups fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 400 F

Beat eggs yolks with 1 cup sugar until thick, add melted butter.

Finely grind almonds with flour, than fold in yolk mixture.

Whip powered sugar and egg whites until peaks form,

fold gently in yolk mixture.

Put batter in 6 inche baking dishes (buttered) drop raspberries

on top of each dish about 7 or 8 raspberries.

Bake 18 or 20 minutes until golden brown.

Puree remaining sugar and berries pour sauce on dessert dishes.

Put warm cakes on each dessert dish.

[Wolfert]

In lo topin de la marieta ou la bonne cuisine en limousin , the author Francoise de Goustine suggests a tourtiere with high sides.

[bleudauvergne]

Thank you Paula, for that advice. I think the high sides must have something to do with not getting it too brown on top before it's fully cooked. I will check that book out of the library soon.

I've posted my translation of the recipe for the Clafourtis de Fevettes au Parmesean et Basilic in the RecipeGullet.

[cjsadler]

recipe correction...[/size=14]

for anyone attempting to make the recipe for cherry clafoutis in the June issue of Food & Wine, please note there is a typographical error in step 2.

2. When the remaining milk is added to the batter, it should read 1 1/2

cups.

Unfortunately, it was printed as 3 1/2 cups.

←

I'm having trouble finding this recipe. Did you mean the June issue that just came out? Doesn't seem to be there.

[Wolfert]

In the recipe in food and wine, the batter is left to stand at room temperature for at least an hour. This is to encourage a small amount of fermentation, which allows the batter to rise to the top of the pan during baking.

I used a 9-inch straight sided skillet

The corrected recipe is posted on the food and wine website.

Lucy: the editor of the book is Au Crouzet

Moustier Ventadour

19300 Egletons.

There isn't any ISBN number, but pub date is 1986.

[Wolfert]

.

undefinedI'm having trouble finding this recipe. Did you mean the June issue that just came out? Doesn't seem to be there.

They haven't put it up yet.

As a fellow egulleteer, there is no need for you to wait:

CUSTARD AND CHERRIES BAKED IN A SKILLET

Clafoutis aux Cerises

I think of this clafoutis as pure therapy for the stressed-out home cook. It’s easy and homey; and it can be served at any temperature---warm or at room temperature.

The cherry version of this clafoutis is a regional specialty of the Limousin, a region which produces beautiful tart cherries. The local cooks don’t pit their cherries, because they know that if they do, the juices will bleed out during baking and make the cake unsightly. Since I find most people prefer using pitted cherries, I’ve devised a truc to keep the juices from weeping: roll your pitted cherries in sugar, then slip them into the freezer for a while to keep the juices from weeping.

One note: To avoid a heavy cake, please make sure your oven temperature is accurate. You’ll need a hot oven to make this cake rise.

SERVES 6

1 pound sweet cherries (about 3 cups), pitted

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (4 ounces) all-purpose flour or flour plus 1 tablespoon for the skillet

Pinch of salt

4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 eggs

2 cups warm milk

2 tablespoons Armagnac or Cognac

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Confectioners’ sugar

1.Early in the day, rinse and dry the cherries. Stem and, if desired, pit the fruit; traditionally this dessert is made with the pits in. Line a 1-quart freezer container with paper towels and pile in the cherries. Sprinkle with the lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of the sugar. Cover and shake to distribute the sugar. Freeze for 1 to 2 hours.

2.Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, 3 tablespoons of the butter, the eggs and 1/4 cup of the warm milk, whisking to blend thoroughly. Gradually add the remaining milk and whisk until smooth. Stir in the Armagnac and vanilla. Cover and let the batter stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour. (This will encourage a small amount of fermentation, which allows the batter to rise to the top of the skillet during baking.)

3.Use half the remaining butter to grease a 9-inch straight-sided ovenproof skillet, preferably well-seasoned cast-iron. Dust the pan with 1 tablespoon of flour; tap out remove any excess.

4.Preheat the oven to 425F. Arrange the cherries in the pan in a single layer. Whisk the batter to a good froth and spoon over the cherries. Set the skillet in the top third of the oven and bake for 20 minutes; the surface will be barely set.

5.Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar over the clafoutis and dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter divided into small bits. Continue to bake for 20 more minutes, or until well puffed, golden brown, and set. Test by inserting a skewer into the center; it is done if it comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and let cool, before serving lukewarm , at room temperature or chilled.

VARIATION

Tart Cherry Clafoutis: If substituting tart cherries, omit the lemon zest and double the sugar.

[Busboy]

A clafouti

Is a thing of beauty

-- Racine

I don't know what's going on where y'all are at but here in The Capitol of the Free World it's the second week of cherry season, and my second week at the clafouti stove, and I've accrued a soupçon of wisdom to add to this thread, so I thought I'd put it up.

The scene: "Cooking for Dilettants" in the kitchen of a posh restaurant, chairs on risers, Famous Falstaiffian French Chef (aka Michel Richard) and Hunky Sous Chef (aka Cyril) (ladies and some of you gents...take this course) (the food's not that great but the sommelier makes it all worth while )behind the line demonstrating three courses, including dessert for myself and 30 other afficianadoes.

(Americans: add a French accent to this dialogue as you read)

Falstaff Richard: You know, when I was a kid, my mother used to make clafouti, but she was lazy, she never took the pits out of the cherries.

Cyril Hunk: I thought it was for the flavor, Chef.

FR: They always have an excuse. They were just lazy...

On the other hand, Alice Waters, who is at times more French than the French, says that the pits add an almond flavor to the stuff, and so she puts a little almond extract into the mix to replace the pits.

Alice also bakes the cherries for a bit first, dusts with cinnamon and lemon rind, and throws a little lemon juice into the mix.

She and Richard both take a fashion-forward approach to the thing, separating the eggwhites from the yolks, and then whiping the whites before recombining the usual ingredients. Michel also Robo-Couped some almonds into flour, thus making up for the (alleged) loss of flavor due to pitting.

When Michel Richard did it (in individual servings) it was wonderful. When I did it, is was...not so much. Worth taking another shot at when I'm actually paying attention to what I'm doing, though.

So, last night, I retreated into Julia's Art for the basic approach, though with a bit of Alice's spice leanings, and served the result with some home-made buttermilk ice cream.

My clafouti, was a thing of beauty.

I'm having the leftovers for breakfast.

Vive les cerises!

[chefzadi]

My mother never took out the pits either.

I don't know about adding cinnamon to clafoutis. Seems a bit strange.

I wonder if anyone has tried stuffing a pitted cherry with an alomnd?