With the holidays behind us, and the promise of a new year and new resolutions to get healthy ahead, one way to ring in better choices is to replace store-bought sweets with baked goods made from scratch. Cakes, breads and pastries baked at home not only taste better, but you can ensure you are using fresh, high quality ingredients, while avoiding unnecessary chemical additives or processing. Best of all, baking at home doesn’t have to be time consuming or difficult.
Case in point, a homemade clafouti, a satisfying dessert perfect for a chilly winter’s night. You make clafouti by pouring a pancake-like batter over fruit – either fresh, sautéed or dried. The result is a light and airy cross between a fruit tart and custard. Some of my favorite fruits to use in winter-time are sautéed apples and pears or cranberries and oranges. The good news, it’s hard to go wrong when you are baking with delicious ingredients.
Ingredients
- 3 cups pitted fruit
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup (6 ounces) milk or cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (3 1/8 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or 100% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan, or a 9-inch pie pan at least 1 1/2 inches deep. Place the fruit in the pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, melted butter, vanilla, almond extract, and sugar. Whisk in the flour, stirring till most of the lumps are gone. Pour the batter over the fruit. Bake the clafouti for 45 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove it from the oven, and serve it in wedges, warm or at room temperature. A dab of whipped cream is entirely appropriate. Makes 8 servings.
