March 22, 2006
Clafoutis à la Fraise
I have a new piece appearing today on NPR's Kitchen Window: it is a recipe for strawberry clafoutis, to which I've added, as a free! no-strings-attached! bonus, an easy recipe for strawberry coulis.
(If you've missed them, my previous contributions to Kitchen Window include:
~ Mango Scallop Tartlets
~ Pear Pastilla
~ Cheese Course 101
~ Fresh Herb Muffins
~ Cherry Soup with Hazelnut Rosemary Tuiles
~ Artichoke and Goat Cheese Mille-feuille
~ Asparagus Confit with Almonds and Rosemary
~ Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlets)
You will find the metric measurements for the clafoutis and coulis below.
Note: the amounts were slightly rounded up or down to make them easier to work with (who wants to measure 56.69 grams butter?), but this won't affect the finished product -- clafoutis is a pretty flexible kind of guy.
Clafoutis:
- 55 g unsalted butter
- 600 g fresh strawberries
- 60 g all-purpose flour
- 50 g whole blanched almonds
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- A pinch of salt
- 3 large eggs
- 185 ml milk
- 1 tablespoon light rum (optional)
- Confectioner's sugar
- Oven temperature: 180° C
Coulis:
- 200g fresh strawberries
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
 Strawberry Basil Pesto |
 Quince Almond Cake |
 Raw Buckwheat Granola |
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Spring strawberries and your recipe, now if it would only stop raining today would be perfect! Merci for the coulis aussi!
C'est la première fois que je vois un clafoutis à la fraise! Il est très beau!
I have made cherry clafoutis many times, but never strawberry. That will be an excellent summer dessert.
It's funny, the clafoutis is really easy to make, but it gets the biggest "oohs" and "ahhhs" of almost anything I make!
Amazing picture ...
I am going to try this for dinner at my parent's on Friday. My parents love strawberries. Thank you very much!
P.S. Why is my blog URL at MSN spaces considered "questionable content"? The comment form asked for it..
Beautiful picture !
That looks lovely, Clotilde! Now I just have to wait for the first strawberries to appear in the shops here in Scotland!
Would I completely ruin this if I leave out the cornstarch? I don't have time to run to the store and buy a whole bag to use one teaspooon. The batter would probably be runnier, but that's not the end of the world, is it?
Adrenna - Sorry about that, the automatic spam filter is sometimes a bit overzealous. It should work now.
J.K. - Actually, the cornstarch is there to make the custard lighter/fluffier. You won't ruin it if you omit it (some recipes don't call for it), but the custard will have a slightly heftier consistency.
This is a classic dessert that we make at home! Love love clafoutis and yours looks lovely! Strawberries are a big plus!
Lovely recipe & a very nicely written piece! I wish I'd had this a few months earlier - in Florida, strawberries come into season in January/February...
Thanks also for links to the previous NPR pieces - I am particulalry fond of your cheese article.
Beautiful writing on NPR, and even more beautiful recipe!
My best friend made a cherry clafoutis for the baby shower she hosted for me (the entire food theme was french, for my daughter, arianna) and it was wonderful. I cannot wait to get some strawberries to make your variation!
Salut a un chef extraordinaire!
I've been reading your blog for a while now, and am super impressed. I lived in France way back in the day, so thank you for sweetening my memories; it's a real gift what you've got here. My question: Did I miss the part where you explained what exactly 'Clafoutis' means? Also, where do they come from, please?
signed,
curious
scrumptious as ever..and the oh-so-pretty-Clotildepink ~ am reading this at 10.06 and wondering if it's too late to take a walk to the kitchen....:-)
This is my first visit to your wonderful food blog. Looking at your recipes and great photos, it's undestandable why Chocolate & Zucchini is held in such high regard.
Best Wishes
Kevin Ashton (chef & food writer)
www.wannabetvchef.blog.co.uk
You make me soooo hungry! When you finish your cookbook it will sell millions!
Domestic Goddess (if I remember correctly), recently posted a strawberry clafoutis recipe. I'd never made clafoutis before -- what a marvelous, easy and delicious thing to try. Can't wait to try your recipe. These are so impressive when you take them from the oven and they're all poufy and golden. Thanks!
I saw your Brillat-Savarin reference on cheese course 101. I just have to tell everyone interested in gastronomy: Read it. Savarin's brilliant prose offers nothing but intense pleasure. Bien sur c'est mieux en Français!
I love clafoutis! I have been spying all the strawberries at the markets - thanks for giving us a great use for them! I've never made a clafouti with cornstarch or ground almonds, so I must try this variation. It looks divine!
oh that looks and sounds wonderful...as soon as the strawberries start to look better here, ima gawna make it!
I love cherry clafoutis, so I'll definitely be trying this. It sounds heavenly - thank you!
We are on the same wavelength! I just finished making some strawberry coulis this afternoon and was going to make cherry claufoutis for mamie and papie tomorrow, but I think I'll do the fraises instead since there are so many of them at the market...from Spain, but yum, I love spring!!
Do you by any chance know, if you want to make the cherry version of this, do you just substitute the cherries?
thanks:)
kim
I tried this but was disappointed with the texture of the cooked batter--can someone tell me how it's supposed to be? Mine was heavy, solid, like cooked pasta. Should it be like cake, or pudding, or how? Thanks! (it tasted good!)
Kim - Yes: if you want to make the cherry version, you can just substitute cherries for the strawberries. Frozen work fine by the way, and no need to thaw them before you bake the clafoutis.
Gingerpale - The consistency of a clafoutis is kind of like a thick crepe or pancake (not cake- or pudding-like), but it shouldn't feel heavy or solid either. Did you use the cornstarch? What did the batter look/feel like before you poured it over the berries?
As usual your posts are great.Inspiring and terribly amusing. I have been coming across an awful lot of strawberries as well. I will definitely give it a go.
Sounds wonderful. I'm always looking for a good clafoutis recipe. So many of the ones in American French cookbooks call for too much flour and end up being more like a pancake than a custard. Strawberries are just starting to come into season here, so your timing is impeccable.
If I may add something: The original clafoutis is made with cherries, and not any other fruits, usually with their pits (if removed, the juices mix with the batter), and doesn't call for cornstarch, which is not really the kind of thing you found in the countryside in the center of France. Cakes prepared with the same batter, but with other fruits, were originally called flaugnarde. This almond and strawberry version looks good!
i tried this yesterday and it was wonderful! we really liked the addition of ground almonds, great texture and flavor for the cooked batter. i will try it with cherries this summer, leaving the pits in as suggested in your article.
Hi Clotilde, Thank you so much for this recipe. It served up some spring with our Sunday dinner yesterday
Heather
Thank you for inspiring me to cook and explore foods without feeling defeated! I started to read your blog at the end of last year .. I have seen an improvement in my cooking. As a vegetarian I hope to find some recipes that have the option of being meatless.
The other night I made your Strawberry Clafoutis recipe and already have a request from my husband for more.
You have changed my cooking and view of food and I thank you for that.
I'm planning on making the strawberry coulis this weekend. Can someone give some recommendations on what to serve with it? Pound cake? French toast? Sabayon ice cream? I'm thinking there are lots of possibilities, and I'd love to hear people's suggestions. Merci!
Dear Clotilde,
I made your strawberry clafoutis to take to dinner with friends who also love France. It was such a hit that they asked to keep the little left in the dish for breakfast.
I had make the cherry version several times before, but prefer yours not only for the brighter taste, but because I'm always afraid someone will forget and break a tooth on the cherry pits.
Thanks for this great addition to dinner.
-Linda
Thank you for your beautiful and funny weblog. I love reading your texts.I was wondering though, where do I find the actual recipes? I mean, under clafoutis a la fraise I do find the list of ingredients, but the actual recipe is nowhere to be found????
Click on the link just below the picture... It will lead you to the NPR site where the article (and recipe) was actually published ! What Clotilde did was give her C&Z fans the metric measurements as a bonus...
Having made other clafoutis recipes, I was eager to try this one with cherries and vanilla. Unfortunately without success. The mixture looked beaded (perhaps from the cornstarch) from the second I put in the butter and I couldn't get the middle to cook to the point where I could stick a knife in it and have it come out cleanly (perhaps 350 F is not enough or too much butter).
Wow, I just cooked the Strawberry Claflouti..fantastic. It worked a treat.
Hello Clotilde, My first time on the site. Just signed up for your newsletter. This Strawberry Clafoutis looks so good, but it there anyway you can translate it to American measurements? Cups instead of grams? Regards, Elise
Elise - The recipe with American measurements is posted on the NPR site.