I’m not such a fancy lady. I can’t apply make-up to save my life, I don’t own a proper hairbrush, and if left to my own devices I will wear boat shoes and cut off jeans as long as the weather permits. I can cook something pretty legit, maybe even throw some chive flowers on top, but I will ultimately smother it in this. This is why I can’t have nice things.
So, clafoutis. Honestly, sounds like something I might ruin. Luckily, my love of the simple and strange kept me thinking about the clafoutis and I finally gave in and tried it. Clafoutis are typically made with cherries (pits in and all!), but they’re super-versatile. Right now, the market is filling up with eligible partners for the custardy clafoutis batter—plums, cherries, currants, peaches, and gooseberries.
A clafoutis is much easier to make than it is to say without feeling awkward. Pour some sweet custard over fruit and bake. That’s it. Pretty soon you’re eating a fruit-studded flan with a spoon straight from the baking dish. I chose gooseberries because their seeds are a nod to the traditional pits-in cherries and because I wanted an excuse to buy gooseberries. When baked, their flavor becomes spicy and complex. You’ll taste nutmeg, I swear.
Gooseberry Clafoutis
Ingredients
- 2 oz/ 57 g (about 1/4 cup) sugar
- .3 oz / 9 g (about 1 T) cornstarch
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
- 8 oz (227 g) gooseberries, topped, tailed, washed, and dried (phew!)
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- powdered sugar to top
Cooking Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 and butter an 8x8 square baking dish.
- Place the gooseberries in an even layer in the dish and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk for about a minute.
- Finally, add the milk and cream, mixing until fully incorporated.
- Pour the custard mixture over the gooseberries and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the custard is set.
- Let cool to room temperature sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve at room temperature.
Notes:
- Adapted just barely from this Jacques Pepin recipe.
- “Top and tail” means cut off both the stem and blossom end from the gooseberries. Don’t worry, this is easy to do with scissors.
About autumn
Autumn Giles is the creator of Autumn Makes & Does and the co-host of the Alphabet Soup Podcast.
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Wait, since when are boat shoes and cutoffs not acceptable summer wear? Excuse me while I go put on my fancy clothes before I make a clafoutis. 🙂
HA! <3 <3 <3
This sounds simply delightful! Yum!
Girly girls in fancy clothes and make up can’t be bothered with making beautiful, delicious food. They’d make their face run, or break a nail or something AWFUL like that. Gawd.
But real girls, we do these kinds of things. We make clafoutis. And other deliciousness and people love that in us. So yeah…. embrace your real ness. And keep on with the good stuff.
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