Plum Clafoutis

Over the past few weeks the farmer's markets have been bursting with tiny black plums. Sweet, succulent and even a little tangy, the plums are ripe for eating, stewing, poaching and in this case, baking...in a clafoutis.

It was only until I attempted to make this baked dessert, that I discovered that it is actually French, specifically from the Limousin region. I have always thought it was Greek. The word 'clafoutis' just sounds so Greek to me but then again 'tiramisu' sounds Japanese!

My clafoutis differs from the Limoges' version which traditionally uses un-pitted black cherries. It is thought that the kernel (pip) imparts an almond-like flavour into the batter when baked. Instead, I used the small black plums, with the stone left in.

While the plums I used were sweet to the point of being over-ripe, the cooking process seemed to reawaken their tart bite.

A clafoutis is somewhere between a cake, a custard, a sweet omelette and a souffle. But really, I shouldn't grope for a category: it is what it is. It's a clafoutis. And it's delicious.

Plum Clafoutis Recipe

500 grams of small plums, halved
3/4 cups of all-purpose flour, sifted
A pinch of salt
3 room temperature free-range eggs
1/2 cup & 1 Tbsp of castor sugar
300ml of milk
1 Tbsp of Grand Marnier
Icing sugar for dusting
Buttered ramekins or round or square baking tin
Vanilla ice-cream or freshly whipped cream to serve (optional)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C).
2. Wash and halve the plums. Place them in a bowl and sprinkle on 1 tablespoon of castor sugar on them. Let them sit for 30 minutes.
3. Butter the ramekins or baking tin. Set aside.
4. Beat the eggs well. Set aside.
5. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Stir in the well-beaten eggs until mixture is smooth.
6. Add 1/2 cup of castor sugar and Grand Mariner and stir to combine. Now add the milk, stirring continuously until batter is smooth.
7. If you are using small ramekins, then spoon a generous amount of plums into the bottom of each dish. Pour in the batter about halfway up the ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet and then bake for 10 minutes or until risen. Remove and serve immediately.
8. If you are baking in a large baking tin then spread all the plums along the bottom of the tin and pour all the batter into it. Bake for 30 minutes and then serve immediately.

Comments

[VeggieGirl]

Ironically, I just bit into a plum, and it was TERRIBLE!! Blech. I do hope that the next one I try (maybe in a few days, haha) tastes palatable!!

Your clafouti is perfection.

[Manggy]

Ah, the perfect breakfast for dessert lovers! ;) Anyway, I never thought about tiramisu as sounding Japanese, but thanks to you, I will now, haha!

[Wandering Coyote]

I have been wanting to make a clafoutis for a long time but just haven't gotten around to it. It's on my long list of "must makes." I have a recipe that uses pears that looks really good.

[Arundathi]

Looks amazing - just recently discovered clafoutis - and now can't get enough of them!

[Bellini Valli]

I like the whole "it is what it is" category:D Tart plums would be perfect for a clafouti Syrie:D

[Pam]

You have a lovely site with beautiful pictures. This plum tart looks delicious! My kids love plums so I am sure they would gobble this up!

[mikky]

your picture looks so amazing!!! must taste so good too... hmmm, wonder if this will be good with my frozen strawberries too...:)

[Alexa]

Beautiful plum clafoutis. I love them with any fruit. It use to be that the name Clafoutis in France was exclusively used for the one containing cherries. It has become so common for people to make the batter with a variety of fruits that the norm on that has changed.

Your recipe is lovely...with the plums and the grand marnier. Your pictures are breathtaking.

[Rosa]

What a wonderful clafoutis! Beautiful and tempting! I love plums...

Cheers,

Rosa

[Merry]

I blush and admit that I had no Idea that Clafoutis even existed until I read your delicious looking post - What would the difference be between that and a batter fruit cake?

[Emily / MyricaRubra]

wow, I wish I had found this blog prior to my most recent trip to the market...there were so many delicious looking plums, but I didn't have any ideas as to what to do with them. This looks brilliant, thanks for the inspiration!

Thanks!

[Syrie]

Oh VeggieGirl that stinks! I hate it when I bite into bad nuts...you know when they taste rancid? Yuck.

Hey Mark! Yes it is kind of like a brekkie dish isn't it. Light, fruity and eggy!

mmm, Pears sound like a good idea. I think I'd poach them in red wine first. Thanks for visiting wandering coyote!

Me too! Thanks for stopping by Arundathi!

Hi Bellini! Yes I came to that conclusion after 20 minutes of trying to describe it. Thanks for visiting.

hey Pam, thanks for your kind words. Hope your kids like it!

Thanks so much Mikky! Yes I think strawberries would be perfect! Perhaps use smaller ones if you can.

Alexa, you are lovely. Thanks so much for your comment. I'm giong to try the cherry version next.

thanks for visiting Rosa!

Don't worry Merry, I'm a clafoutis newbie too! A clafoutis is much more eggy than a fruit cake which I'm not sure contains eggs. A fruit cake tends to taste more like a dense cake while the clafoutis is more like a dense quiche if that makes sense. Thanks for visiting!

Emily thanks so much for stoppng by. Hope you get to try it out.

Cheers everyone - Syrie

[Christie@fig&cherry]

Beautiful shot! I love plums and your addition of Grand Marnier. Delish!

[Dee]

My cherry clafouti looked nowhere as pretty as yours. Stunning photos. And I love the Plum and Grand Marnier combination!

[Kevin]

That clafoutis looks good! I like the sound of a plum clafoutis.

[Rhiannon Devine]

Yum! We made an apricot tart with the base of clafoutis. Really nice, although it wasn't so pretty. Yours look beautiful!

[Amy I.]

Hi Syrie! I've had this on my to-do list forever and finally made it this morning with the strawberries we picked yesterday. It was absolutely divine! Thanks for the inspiration.

[Adelina]

I wish I could have the skills, talents and patience in learning about food photography, and to take BEAUTIFUL photographs like you do! I love how you successfully captured the clafoutis that I could actually "taste" the texture of it from my computer screen!

Thanks for sharing and for posting!

[Christina]

Hello! I tried your recipe about a week ago and my mom couldn't get enough it! My boyfriend also got quite a kick out of it and he usually only eats things that are unbearably sweet. I didn't have any Grand Marnier so I used vanilla instead and I also used a little half and half cream with the milk. Excellent job on an excellent and easy to follow recipe!