Saturday, September 17, 2011

Raspberry Flaugnarde (gesundheit)

 
Photo by Tina Rupp

We went raspberry picking last weekend with visiting family and as we walked the rows of berries I said we need enough berries to make... ahhh... Cl... ummm.... Coul-fatie?  Followed by the disclaimer that I had no idea how you pronounce it because I've only seen it in Food and Wine but it looked fabulous and I've wanted to make it ever since.  I couldn't explain if it was a custard or a cake, and now that I've actually had it it's really neither.  And it's not even a clafoutis it's a flaugnarde.

According to my sources (i.e. Wiki) the clafoutis is a baked classic French dessert of black cherries (containing pits) covered in a thick flan-like batter (I disagree with this description, not being a big fan of flan, which my Aunt describes as custard that couldn't get a hard on... lovely... moving on).  It is dusted with sugar and served lukewarm.  The dessert originates from the Limousin region and when baked with any other fruit it is actually a flaugnarde.  And apparently the word is "bastardized" as Clafouti... good gracious no... a missing s... whatever shall we do?

Clafoutis/Clafouti/flaugnarde... I don't care how you spell it it is G O O D!  I stole the photo from above because I didn't want to scare you with my photo.


I would like to blame my photo skills but honestly it was an ugly duckling of a dessert. 


Any better?  No you're right.

Some recipes call for it to be completely golden brown on top like ours but all the good photos look like the one above all creamy and white.  I suspect this has something to do with food styling and using painted food when things do not appear the way we want them to.  I like to think of it as proof that even gorgeous food like gorgeous people are retouched!  It was getting a bit late by the time it came out of the oven so I tried to take it outdoors, then decided I would take a photo the next day in natural light.  After all there were 4 1/2 of us and 8 pieces of dessert surely there would be a slice a smidge something leftover to take a photo of.... and there was... did I show you the left over berries?


I am sure it has something to do with the fresh berries that were like little pillow of fruity velvet on the tongue.  Something so rich, so delicious, so fantastic that what you see above is probably all that survived the onslaught of people eating the berries with cream and just straight from the refrigerator.  I have been counting the days all week until this weekend when we could go again and pick two to three times as many so that there could be many a flaugnarde in our futures but the weather did not cooperate.  Maybe tomorrow... hope hope.  Either way it is raspberry season get thee to a raspberry picking place and make this today.  Your stomach will thank you.  Oh and did I mention that it takes about 5 minutes to throw together... can't beat that with a stick could you?

Raspberry Clafoutis
Food and Wine
Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Salt
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 pints raspberries (3 cups) (there is NOOOO way 3 cups would have fit.  I used 1 1/2 tops I would say just have a lot and add them until full)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Method
Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 9-inch gratin dish. In a bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Whisk in the eggs, butter and lemon zest until smooth. Add the milk and whisk until light and very smooth, about 3 minutes. Pour the batter into the gratin dish and top with the raspberries.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until the clafoutis is set and golden. Let cool slightly. Dust with confectioners' sugar, cut into wedges and serve.

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