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Clafouti is a cute French word for a raised, or puffed, fruit pancake. You could eat it for a decadent weekend breakfast, or a dessert. Or, since it has quiche-like properties, you might even call it dinner on a day when you’re spoiling yourself. Whenever you serve it, it’s a quick and easy treat to put together. If you’re like me and you have all kinds of fruit stashed away in your freezers or cupboards (see above bucket of pears, which was only one of numerous buckets we picked last fall), you might have everything you need to make it right now.
Just about any type of fruit works, so if you’re not stocked up on pears, use what you have. I’ve made this with apples and also with assorted berries.
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How to make Pear Clafouti:
2 cups sliced pears in syrup*
1 tablespoon crystallized ginger
3 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/2 cup light cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt (optional)
powdered sugar for the top
*I used a pint of pears in a light syrup that I froze last fall. You could use home-canned or store-bought pears as well as fresh. You only need about 1/2 cup of the syrup, so if there’s too much, drain off some of the syrup before getting started. If using fresh, you’ll need to add some liquid and cook the pears longer to soften them. You could use (any) fruit juice, brandy, cider, or even plain water, depending on what you have and what you like.
Simmer the pears with the ginger to soften and break up the ginger. Turn off the heat and evenly distribute the pears with about 1/2 cup of the juice/syrup in a greased deep dish pie pan. (Use your largest pie pan.)
Whisk the eggs, flour, sugar, cinnamon, milk, cream, vanilla, and salt (if using) in a medium-size bowl.
If you have lumps, let it sit a few minutes to dissolve then whisk again.
Pour the egg mixture over the top.
You can do this on the counter then transfer to the oven. If you’re worried about spilling, pull out the oven rack and pour it there. This will fill up even a deep dish pie pan.
Bake at 375-degrees for about 40-45 minutes. Slices of fruit will rise and it will get all puffy and pouffy and awesome.
Don’t worry–even with a full pie dish, it doesn’t spill over, it just poufs. Let cool completely then dust with powdered sugar.
This recipe can be made with very basic ingredients. If you don’t have the crystallized ginger, you can make do without it, and if you don’t want to use cream, use all milk. (You could even use low-fat.) Clafouti is a sort of exotic word, but it’s a truly simple, almost rustic dessert. It’s also a great last-minute dish that is special enough for company when you don’t have very much time to prepare. It’s a little bit like a custard pie without the crust. And it’s delicious.
See this recipe at Farm Bell Recipes and save it to your recipe box.
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My only problem now is: Do you think there is a way to crystallize ginger at home? I want to buy a gingerroot in the store, see if I can plant part of it, as per the “garbage gardening” post in the forum, and always have fresh ginger. Then if I could crystallize it… “As G*d is my witness, I will never be gingerless, again” as I am now.
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Ann/alba
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Suzanne, I’ve looked into making crystallized ginger. The problem is that you need to use young ginger root, harvested before the skin hardens and it gets fibrous. That pretty much lets out store-bought ginger, so unless you live where you can grow your own, making homemade crystallized ginger probably isn’t going to work. I love ginger, especially crystallized ginger. I even toured a ginger farm and factory in Australia to learn about how it’s processed. It was fascinating to see. I’ve tried to grow it, so far without success, but I’ll keep trying.
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I have some cherries in the freezer.. and I will be making it with coconut milk (husband is allergic to casein).
Maybe I will add a pinch of cardamom…
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