Resolution #1 - Clafoutis

So, ten days ago I posted a list of food resolutions. I thought I would tackle a few early on so I would feel more motivated moving forward. Today, Clafoutis. Tomorrow, Popovers.

Clafoutis is a French dessert that is essentially a custard with fruit that is baked and then served cold. It is definitely better cold, because then the custard is firmer and tastes more complete. I chose local peaches (Wegmans has had an outstanding selection of local peaches for weeks) as the fruit, and this was probably a miscalculation on my part. Traditionally, clafoutis is made with cherries, apricots, apples, or pears. As delicious as peaches are, clafoutis needs something with a more defined, possibly more tart, taste to balance out the delicate flavor of the custard.

I also mistakenly thought my springform pan would suffice as a tart pan. Disaster. The liquid that becomes custard once baked seeped out through the bottom of the pan, which created a huge, drippy mess in the oven before the burning smell made me run in from the living room. I had to think fast and grab a dish from the cabinet that had upright sides. This unfortunately meant that my layering of peach slices on the bottom and custard on top went completely awry.

Side tip: it makes it MUCH easier to clean drips up in the oven if you sprinkle a little salt on burny messes. Scrapes right out with a spatula when your oven is cold again.

As you can see from the picture, it did at least look pretty when it was done. Tasted okay, too, though I think I can do better. I used the clafoutis recipe in the French Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Herrmann Loomis as my guideline, but clafoutis recipes can be found in practically any French cookbook.