Apricot Clafoutis Two Ways

A candid shot: Apricot-Chocolate Clafouti and Apricot-Bluberry Clafoutis

I have not made a clafouti, or clafoutis, for many years—I just eat up the cherries too fast—but I’ve been missing great fun. This breakfast or dessert is disproportionately pleasurable for the minimal effort it asks. I understand both spellings are valid, and since I made two, one can be a clafouti and one can be a clafoutis.

Apricot Clafoutis Two Ways

18 ½ apricots (1 pound 3 ounces after stoning)

½ cup blueberries (if you have some lying around)

2 teaspoons sugar

1 or 2 tablespoons butter for the baking dishes

1 ¼ cup milk

3 eggs

2/3 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon (one fat pinch) salt

(Up to this point you will notice that this is identical to the recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume I with the exception that I have left out the vanilla extract. The alert reader may have noted that I almost never use extracts.)

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350. Split the apricots and remove the stones. Sprinkle them with 2 teaspoons sugar. Butter two medium-sized baking dishes and arrange the apricot halves in the dishes. If you are using blueberries, add them to one of the dishes.

Combine the milk, eggs, flour, and salt and mix or blend well. This will yield about 2 ¼ cups batter. Pour half of this (1 1/8 cups) over the apricot-blueberry dish. Mix the chocolate into the remaining batter and pour the chocolate batter over the other dish of apricots. Place both dishes in the oven and bake until set. I think it was just a bit over 25 minutes.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving (I didn’t get to that part yet).

(Amended 2006/07/30): These were just the thing. The chocolate experiment (2 ounces of chocolate for half a recipe of clafouti batter) seemed just about right. I am thinking of other summer fruits that might work and possibly a vegetable for a savory version. I humbly submit this recipe for Nandita's breakfast blogging event at the wonderful Saffron Trail. Have a look at some of the gorgeous vegetables she saw in the market in Mumbai. They have methi, matey!

chocolate, Baking, Dessert, pastry, apricot, clafoutis, clafouti,
Breakfast, WBB, breakfast blogging, food blog event