A Mixed Berry Clafoutis to Welcome Julia Child to IHCC

We had already decided to select Julia Child as the next featured chef at I Heart Cooking Clubs before the Coronavirus made it more of a challenge to get particular ingredients for recipes. So for at least the next month, we have adpoted a "Needs, Must" theme at IHCC--meaning that you can cook any recipe from any of our past and present featured chefs (20 with Julia) and modify the recipe and ingredients as needed to accommodate what you have available.

I still wanted to make a welcoming dish for Julia and picked something easy, her Clafoutis recipe. If you aren't familiar, (according to Wikipedia) "Clafoutis, sometimes spelled clafouti in Anglophone countries, is a baked French dessert of fruit, traditionally black cherries, arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The clafoutis is dusted with powdered sugar and served lukewarm, sometimes with cream."

I have posted two on this blog: 

Blueberry & Elderflower Clafoutis: 

Cherry Clafoutis:

I didn't have fresh cherries so I used blueberries and a few sliced strawberries I had on hand for my fruit. I also had just brown sugar on hand and no powdered sugar. Finally, I don't thnk this is my finet effort as I was distracted by a work call while I was making it. Luckily, a clafoutis is a very forgiving dessert and it was delicious, especially with a generous drizzle of cream.   

The New York Times says, "This recipe is for a delicately sweet dessert whose elegance should not distract from its ease (it can be made while the rest of dinner is in the oven). Make sure you have fresh berries, and serve the result warm. We call for blueberries or blackberries here, but feel free to try it with whatever seasonal fruit catches your eye."

Julia Child's Berry Clafoutis 
Slightly Adapted from TheNewYorkTimes
(Yield 6 to 8 Servings)

butter for pan
1 1/4 cups whole or 2% milk
2/3 cups granulated sugar, divided (I used brown sugar)
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 cup flour
1 pint (2 generous cups) blackberries or blueberries, rinsed & well-drained (I used blueberries & strawberries)
powdered sugar in a shaker (I did not have)
cream to serve, optional
 
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a medium-size flameproof baking dish at least 1 1/2 inches deep.

Place the milk, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour in a blender. Blend at top speed until smooth and frothy, about 1 minute.

Pour a 1/4-inch layer of batter in the baking dish. Turn on a stove burner to low and set dish on top for a minute or two, until a film of batter has set in the bottom of the dish. Remove from heat.

Spread berries over the batter and sprinkle on the remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Pour on the rest of the batter and smooth with the back of a spoon. Place in the center of the oven and bake about 50 minutes, until top is puffed and browned and a tester plunged into its center comes out clean.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving. (Clafoutis need not be served hot, but should still be warm. It will sink slightly as it cools.)

Notes/Results: I probably should have used a little less fruit for the size of ceramic casserole I used but this was delicious and really hit the spot as I have been craving something sweet and baked this week. Because I'm not a baker, I love clafoutis because they really are low fuss and effort desserts. I liked the tartness of the blueberries I used with the mellower strawberries even though the more traditional cherry clafoutis will always be my favorite. I will hapily make this again. 

Linking up to Bon Appétit, Julia! at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

 
I'm also sharing it at the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.