Saturday, June 28, 2008

I'm a Clafoodie

As with lots of other foods that seem to pop up in unison on blogs (there's a mini meatball meme going on at present, I've noticed), the clafoutis is currently catchy.
Zoomie put one together the other day to lovingly lay to rest some geriatric cherries and berries, and I know hers is not the only version I've spotted on blogs recently (but I'm drawing a blank, so shoot me — with blanks, of course).
I've been waiting for the plums in the backyard to ripen so I could make a plumfoutis, but it looks like they've got weeks to go. We were celebrating our *mumble*-th anniversary Friday and needed something pretty, right away... and there was aging fruit from the farmers market languishing in the fridge... so...
Gosh, this is an easy cake to bake. Easy as pie. Nope, easier.
You whip up what is essentially a slightly sweetened Yorkshire pudding batter, pour it into a buttered dish, and drop whole or cut-up fruit into it, making a stained-glass window effect.
Cook, puff, cool, cut, top with whatever pleases you (powdered sugar, crème fraîche), or eat it bare.
You have complete control over how sweet you want to make it, what kind of fruit (and how much) to use, or even whether to add vanilla (and next time, I'll opt out).
It's low-fat, high protein (eggs) and full of the natural nectar that grows on trees.
It's not dessert. It's food.

18 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

Great photo. I am drooling here.

kudzu said...

My most favorite one of all time was one MFK Fisher served me for dessert at lunch, made from two or three different varieties of red wine grapes -- all of them also quite winey and wonderful. Hadn't had it before and haven't encountered it since -- except for in my own kitchen. It's a perfect thang, far as I'm concerned.

PS Happy (mumble)th
Anniversary!

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

Very delicious. Mmmm

cookiecrumb said...

Kalyn: You'd love it. You could sub out the sugar for Splenda (it's only 2 Tbsp anyway), but there's about a cup of flour... Doable?

Kudzu: Zowie! What a great tale. Lucky you. I'm glad you can use grapes; that means my juicy pears should work just fine in a month or so when they start throwing themselves off the tree.
Question: You think Absinthe would be a good flavor with pears? Vanilla is so "toy."
And -- PS: Thanks.

Nikki: At this point in our house, it's breakfast! Mmm.

Dagny said...

OK. Clafoutis. A coworker mentioned it this past week. We often talk about food and I know that she spends much of her lunch hour on the internet. Yep, must be the new hot thing.

kudzu said...

Absinthe? Show-off!
I'm prejudiced because I have a sort of weird reaction to anything anise-flavored (except for fennel), as in anisette, five spice powder, et al. My theory of cooking is to add anything one bloody well pleases. The recipe is not sacred.

Oh, and when I said I hadn't had "that" since Fisher's kitchen, I meant that specific combo. I've loved the dish in many forms.

Zoomie said...

Yours is beautiful and your picture is nicer, too! Thanks for the mention. And how about adding the fennel seeds you showed me - or fennel flowers in place of the vanilla?

Kudzu - love the idea of grapes in a clafoutis! I'm gonna try that next!

Zoomie said...

BTW, love the title, too!

Barbara said...

Beautiful. I love Clafoutis, especialy for breakfast.

You know someone Mary Frances cooked for? I'm impressed.

I made stock from my prawn (shrimp) shells yesterday. Fantastic.

Linda said...

Have you ever had clafoutis with vegetables-a savory clafoutis? I found that I really liked it. It was very easy, not needing a crust, and a way to use up all of those summer veggies.

Ms Brown Mouse said...

One of the best things about winter is clafoutis.
And happy (mumble)th anniversary to you & Cranky.

Anna Haight said...

Happy Anniversary, and wow, I'm going to have to try one of these! And BTW, I love the camera angle.

Anonymous said...

Good golly I am impressed too as Mary Frances is one of my all-time heroes. I'd have given an eyetooth to have had lunch made by her. But really I would've been happy to just have had a drink with her.

fwiw I blathered about clafoutis recently too. Must be a bandwagon thing. I posted no pictures though as my cherries were on the bottom, batter on top. All good, natch.

cookiecrumb said...

Dagny: I think it's on everyone's mind because of the abundance of summer fruit.

Kudzu: OK, then maybe just a drizzle of Grand Marnier. :-)

Zoomie: Aw, thanks. A lucky shot beneath a bright window. Yours looked yummy.

Barbara: Kudzu is pretty special and she deserves to brag.
(I'm delighted to hear about the shrimp-shell stock!)

Linda: We were just thinking about it!!! I love to make savory bread puddings, and clafoutis would be the perfect translation. :-)

Morgan: What kinds of winter clafoutis are you having in Sydney these days?
(Thanks.)

Anna: Easy, filling, good......
OK, that camera angle? I put the dish on the seat of a chair and snapped the pic from directly overhead.

El: I know. I'm not done being impressed yet, hee.
And, fwiw, it WAS your clafoutis I had in mind when I blathered that there were others making the rounds just now, so belated thanks for the inspiration.

Patricia Scarpin said...

You won't believe it, but I have never tried clafoutis. This looks super delicious!

Ms Brown Mouse said...

Cookie, apple, pear & the last of the passionfruit.

cookiecrumb said...

Patricia: I was trying to sound all super-experienced, but in fact, it was my first! But not my last.

Morgan: Ah, yes. My pears here are strictly summer, but I understand the winter pear. And I had no idea passionfruit went so late in the season. Yum.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Well, happy belated mumble-th to you both. ;)
Looks like you celebrated it deliciously.