All-American pie is always perfect, but consider warm, fruity, French clafoutis for this 4th of July celebration. Clafoutis is faster to pull together than pie. Can you mix pancake batter? In a blender? Then you can make clafoutis, which is in effect a giant crepe, scattered with fruit, and eaten hot out of the oven with whipped cream or creme fraiche or ice cream. Kids can definitely help pull this together—or make it all by themselves!
I made three quick versions—peach, cherry, and rhurbarb-raspberry—to demonstrate how adaptable clafoutis can be. Plums, nectaries, blueberries—any fruit that marries well with crumbles, buckles, crisps, or cobblers—can have an affair with clafoutis. If you can’t bear to serve anything but pie on the 4th, make clafoutis for breakfast! Melty creme fraiche and warm maple syrup are awesome together, for the record. Sexy even. It’s all bon.
Inspired by my friend Zoe Francois of Zoe Bakes (cornbread and peaches baked on the grill, oh my!), you could try baking clafoutis on the grill after you pull off the burgers and/or ribs. It’s hard to mess up a clafoutis which makes it experiment worthy. If you give it a try, let me know.
Happy Independence Day, Minnesota!
Clafoutis
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.
Serves 6-8
Batter can be made one day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
1 1/4 c. milk
2/3 c. granulated sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 c. all-purpose flour (or 1/3 c. gluten-free all-purpose flour; I used and like King Arthur brand)
3 c. cherries, pitted (or sliced peaches, blueberries, etc.)
powdered sugar
creme fraiche, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 7–8 cup skillet or baking dish.
Add milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and flour to a blender. Blend on high speed for 1 minute.
Pour a 1/4-inch layer of the batter in prepared dish. Place in the oven until a film of batter sets in the pan, about 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and scatter the cherries over the batter. Sprinkle on 1/3 cup of granulated sugar. Pour the rest of the batter over the cherries and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about for 45 minutes to an hour, or until clafoutis is puffed and browned.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm with creme fraiche, whipped cream, or ice cream.
