Breakfast Clafoutis
4 to 6 ounces blueberries, raspberries, or cranberries or 12 ounces cherries,
peaches or plums
Zest from one small lemon, grated
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus additional to sweeten fruit
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, any size
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Confectioner's sugar
Sour cream (optional)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and prepare the fruit. Cherries should be
stemmed and if desired, pitted. Plums or peaches should be pitted and cut into
bite sized pieces; commercial cranberries should be cut in half; small wild
cranberries, blueberries or raspberries need only to be picked over to remove
stem pieces and debris
Make lemon sugar by mixing the lemon zest with the two tablespoons sugar in a
small dish. In a large bowl,sift together the flour and salt. In a small bowl,
beat the eggs gently and whisk in the milk. Add the wet to the dry ingredients a
little at a time, whisking smooth. Stir in the lemon sugar. Let the batter rest
while the fruit is being cooked.
In a 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat,
coating the bottom and sides halfway to the rim. When the butter is bubbling,
add the fruit. Stir until each piece is softened and is coated with butter,
about 2 to 3 minutes. Then sprinkle in sugar to sweeten; about 2 tablespoons
sugar for all fruit except cranberries, which require about twice as much.
Brown sugar is good with peaches. When this sugar has dissolved and turned into
a syrup (about two minutes), stir up the batter and scrape it carefully into the
pan over the fruit. Put the skillet into the oven to bake for about 20 minutes.
At this point the clafoutis will be set, golden brown and puffed up at the
edges. Divide into warmed bowls, sift a little confectioners sugar over each and
top with sour cream if you like.