Clafoutis!

The other day, I was in my kitchen, doing dishes and I began to think of cobbler.  I know, I know.  Most people think about other things - I think about food.  I love cobbler.  I think a lot of people associate it with the spring and summer months, as it is a dessert bursting full of juicy, fresh fruit.  However, I have always associated it with staying in on a cold day.  The smell of fruit baking in the oven with the oats and sugar butter and flour on top, bubbling and crispy when it comes out, and ooey and gooey as you eat it.  It's the perfect lazy winter day dessert.  The more I thought about it, the more I wanted some.  There was a small issue though.

Let's face it, anyone would be hard pressed to find good looking fruit, at least berry fruit, this time of the year.  I was at the local store yesterday, picking through their vast bins of fruit and everything right now looks so small and sad.  :(

I sat down and began to rifle through my fruit recipes, thinking I'd make banana something or other (as those bananas - which I never really did like) seem to be a perfect choice year round.  I ended up finding nothing.  Except that I had a fruit bowl that Elaine's mother got me last year which held two wrinkled apples (a gift from my mama, as I think apples are horrid unless baked into a pie, cobbler, tart, cookies...then I can eat them), and pears. 

Those pears were looking back at me, as if calling my name.  And I mean, really...what else am I going to use a pear for?  I had previously purchased them with the intent of poaching for over custard, but I had never gotten around to it.  So I thought...pear cobbler? 

Sounded a little sketch. 

As I usually end up doing, I got online, and searched David's blog for something interesting I could incorporate pears into.  I thought about making a tart, but I had just gotten up from sleeping, had to work in several hours, and really wanted something simple.  Long story short, I ended up searching the recipe index at Chocolate and Zucchini.  I'm sure most bakers/cooks have already been to Clotilde's amazing website or read her books, but just in case you haven't, clicky clicky.  It is so worth it.  I love her writing style, and many of the recipes are easy to make despite the continents, and therefore local ingredients, that separate us from her.

She has on her website a recipe for a standard French pastry called clafoutis.  The word itself was rather unappetizing to me, however, the picture was beautiful, all bright and colorful in a small baking dish, and I was sold on it because it looked like cobbler!  The recipe was straightforward, easy and looked like it would be quick.

Unfortunately, being November, I knew fresh strawberries were not to be had, so off I was to the market the following day in search of something that would complement the sad little pears in my fruit bowl.  I walked through the fruit aisles thinking about the last pastry I had with pears, and couldn't think of anything, but in the end, I decided upon a small carton of raspberries.  I figured that it would look pretty, at least, even if it didn't taste quite the way it should. 

Clafoutis is traditionally made with dark cherries (with the pits still inside), but Clotilde mentioned in her recipe, that it welcomes all fruit, and so my idea was finally born.  Pear and raspberry clafoutis.  I also decided, because I like raspberry and coconut together, that I'd incorporate the last bit of dried coconut I had sitting in my fridge with the batter and see what happened.  Even if no one else touched the thing, I knew my booboo biscuit would eat it because, well, his idea of gourmet dessert is an oreo cookie.  :)

 

I used my food processor to make the batter, but I suggest using a regular old mixing bowl OR a blender.  The food processor was fine, but it made a mess on my counter, my floor, my shirt, my kitten, you name it, it was a mess.  If you do use the coconut flakes, you WILL need to grind them down to make them finer.  My batter was still chunky-ish even after processing.  If you want to opt out of the flakes completely, add a bit more sugar to the batter and add coconut extract, and I think that would do just fine as well.  The batter was so delicious, I drank what was left in my processor after I poured it over the fruit.  It tastes like a very thin milkshake - yum!  I think this dessert opens itself up for a million variations.  You can do what I did, or you could add rum.  Or vanilla, to keep it simple.  You could do what Clotilde did and use almonds, or almond extract.  I think even lemon extract or lemon juice would work (with a bit more sugar, of course).  Depending on the season and the fruit, this dessert could be anything you want it to be.

I think next time, I might try this with just berries.  But the pear coconut raspberry combination was delicious.  I'm pretty sure this will be gone in a blink of an eye.  :) 

And without further ado, here is my recipe, adapted from Clotilde's strawberry clafoutis:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter
1 pint raspberries
3 whole pears (I used Bartlett but I presume any firm pear would work)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened or sweetened coconut flakes (optional since this requires grinding)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (if you use sweetened coconut, cut the sugar to 1/3)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
A pinch of salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
Confectioner's sugar (for the top)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8-inch-square glass baking dish or small pie pan with one tablespoon of the butter.

Melt the remaining butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat (or in a small bowl set in the microwave for a few seconds) and set aside.

Rinse the raspberries, and then peel and quarter the pears, removing the cores.  Cut up into bite size chunks.

In a food processor or blender mix flour and coconut flakes together (until ground up).  

Add the sugar, cornstarch and salt, and mix again. Crack in the eggs one by one, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Pour in the melted butter, milk and coconut extract, and mix again until well blended. The mixture will be thin, like crepe batter.


 Arrange the fruit in a single layer in the prepared dish.

Drizzle the batter over the pears and raspberries, and put the dish in the oven to bake for 40 minutes, until puffy and set.

Transfer dish to a rack, and let cool to room temperature. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar, and serve directly from the baking dish.  Clafoutis is traditionally served on its own, but if you like you can add a few fresh strawberries on the side, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a little whipped cream.