Let me begin by saying that two weeks ago I’d never heard of “clafoutis.” I didn’t know how to pronounce “clafoutis.” I certainly did not foresee myself making “clafoutis,” and then eating it three separate times in the same day. I wanted to tell you the proper way to pronounce clafoutis, so like any red-blooded American I went to Wikipedia. Reading through the clafoutis article just now, I’ve realized that this dish can only be called a clafoutis if it is made with cherries. When made with other fruits, it is referred to as a “flaugnarde” which is really even more ridiculous than clafoutis and I can’t quite handle that. Let’s just continue to refer to it as a clafoutis, simply because this whole mess is getting too French for me. So back to the pronunciation thing: since I also don’t know how to read phonetic symbols (although I did attend approximately 28% of the scheduled classes for my phonetics lecture at university), I’m going to guess that it is pronounced like “kla-foo-tee” with extra emphasis on the “tee.” Please correct me if I’m wrong! Right, so whether you are making a clafoutis with cherries or a flaugnarde with peaches, the method is the same. You’re essentially mixing fresh fruit with a delicious flan-like custard and baking it in the oven. It’s heaven, really. My incredible friend Michele came over the morning I was baking this and we weren’t sure if it was meant to be a breakfast or a dessert. So we ate it for breakfast. And then later I ate it for dessert. And maybe in between those two events I snacked on it midday. My kitchen was overflowing with an abundance of ripe, delicious peaches so I wanted to make something that really showcased their sweet flavor. This (faux) clafoutis did the job perfectly. I decided to mix things up a bit and spice the clafoutis with chai spices to complement the fruit.
Rather than using a traditional pie dish, I decided to bake the clafoutis in a cast iron skillet. I don’t know why but I just love making desserts in that thing! It makes everything seem so rustic and lovely. I adapted Julia Child’s original clafoutis recipe because it seemed like a perfectly good place to start. I just finished reading Julie & Julia (I must be the last food blogger on the planet to read it!), so Julia Child has been on my mind lately. Since much French food is complicated, I thought that you might appreciate a simple and delicious addition to your European repertoire.
