Fill My Heart with Fruit
Christine Dauchez
When I first started cooking, I preferred baking because I’ve never been very creative, so it seemed like there was less room for error if I stuck to the four corners of the recipe. It also felt somehow more magical transforming simple ingredients into a delectable dessert.
Over the years, I’ve become less focused on the end product and more curious, turning to recipes as guideposts rather than gospel, and experimenting and annotating as I go. During our recent move, despite my otherwise relentless efforts to declutter, I held onto my favorite cookbooks, now splattered and tattered, mementos of bygone meals.
This recipe is for clafoutis, a simple fruit custard originally from the Limousin region in southwest-central France. The word clafoutis comes from the provincial dialect word clafir, which means to fill. It is traditionally made with cherries but can be used to showcase any seasonal fruit. For many years, I made chocolate cake and pear clafoutis for the holidays, because you can never have too much dessert, and both also keep well.
I adapted this recipe from Simply French. From my heart to yours, bon appétit!
All-season Fruit Clafoutis
- Preheat the oven to 400. Butter and sugar a round baking dish (I use a 9.5 inch Pyrex scalloped pie dish).
- For the custard: Blend three eggs at room temperature until frothy (I use my KitchenAid mixer). Add seeds from one moist vanilla bean, ¾ cup of crème fraîche (I use Trader Joe’s), ¾ cup of whole milk, ¾ cup of sugar, 6 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, a pinch of salt, and ¼ cup of Poire Williams. Mix until well blended, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside batter to rest while you prepare the fruit.
- For the fruit: Peel, quarter, and core 3-4 medium-sized pears (about 1.5 pounds, medium ripe). Slice lengthwise and arrange slices in a spiral in the baking dish.
- Pour batter gently over pears. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool. Serve warm or at warm temperature.
Pumpkin Pie
Cathy Stricklin Krendl
Combine the following ingredients. (I minimize the sugar and maximize the spices):
- 1 ½ cups canned pumpkin
- ¼ to ¾ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 to 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ to 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon ground cloves
Blend in the following.
- 3 slightly beaten eggs
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk
Fill 9-inch unbaked pastry shell. Use pre-mixed crust that rolls out enough to make the edges high to hold the filling. Buy the crust in the refrigerated section of the grocery or make your own.
Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or longer until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Refrigerate until cool and serve with whipped cream.