Blueberry Clafoutis

First things first: kla-foo-tee. That's how the word is pronounced. 

Clafoutis is one of the classic French desserts which you will never find in most cafés or dessert shops. Probably because it is so easily homemade that one is embarrassed to charge money for it. Okay, I was only half joking. Unless it is served in pretty single-portion baking dishes, charged at the same price point as crème brûlée, I really doubt it'd be feasible to put clafoutis on one's menu. And that's my half-assed amateurish deduction as to why it is rarely found when eating out. 

Clafoutis is essentially a baked, firm batter with some fruit in it, the classic choice being fresh whole cherries. Talk to the French about cherry clafoutis and you will see the opposing sides of pitting or not pitting the cherries. The latter, some say, will add a subtle nutty flavour to the dessert. Ask my mother-in-law and she will shrug her shoulders and say that's how she does it because she doesn't have time to remove the stones, and besides, why spoil something that's not broken?

I've shared a photo of her cherry clafoutis a long time ago, but here it is again. We'd have plenty of these when the cherry tree in the garden is at its prime. I also remember having them when we spent the whole day at the countryside home of JL's best friend since boarding school days. Very casually M's wife, S, prepared the batter shortly before our barbecue lunch and even before we are done with the grilled meat and sausages, dessert was all ready. Mind you, S had a boy and a pair of twin toddlers to watch over at the same time. Just my way of illustrating how simple it is to make the dessert. Fantastic parenting, too.

Now to serve clafoutis from a family-size dish onto individual plates can get messy. Although it is firm enough to hold its own, the random placement of the fruits doesn't allow for neat, straight-line cutting. Thus it is best shared among laid-back friends who don't judge. Also, the ideal clafoutis (for me, at least) is not too tall, perhaps two centimeters in height, achieving a good balance between batter and fruit. You won't want too much nor too little of either. So here's my take with blueberries, all because I could never bring myself to pay for cherries where we live now. Sucks to know you have one big tree waiting for you but you're nowhere near it.

Blueberry Clafoutis
Serves 6

Ingredients:
3 eggs
60 g caster sugar
85 g all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
200 ml whole cream
110 ml whole milk
250 g blueberries
1 teaspoon icing sugar

Method:
Grease a 30-cm baking dish and preheat the oven at 180°C.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and flour evenly. Add the vanilla extract, cream and milk, and stir the mixture thoroughly. Pour the batter into the baking dish and place it in the oven.

When the batter has firmed up slightly, in about 8 minutes, slide the dish out of the oven to add the blueberries. Continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the clafoutis to cool in the oven.

Just before serving, dust the icing sugar over the clafoutis.

Notes:

It is natural for the batter to rise above the dish as it bakes. Likewise for it to deflate as it cools. You can serve it lukewarm, or like us, we eat any leftovers straight from the fridge. 

It is only because I am using blueberries that I add them only after the batter has firmed up a little. Blueberries are more delicate and much smaller in size compared to cherries. If you are using cherries, you can scatter them as soon as you've greased the baking dish. Later you can just pour the batter right in and bake for 30-35 minutes without any interruption.

Also, to make abundance in case there are more than six people, make smaller servings with a scoop of good vanilla ice-cream.