Clafoutis, pronounced klah-foo-tee, is from the Limousin region in the center of France. Though sometimes called pelhaire for the uneven way the cherries color the batter, or millard if you’re from Auvergne, clafoutis comes from the old French word – claufir, and that comes from the Latin – clavo figere, which means to fix something with nails. The fruit at the bottom of the pan serves as the “nails” that fix the batter which is poured over it.
Clafoutis is typically made with unpitted cherries, but this fig and almond variant is a crowd-pleaser.
I got the recipe from a French mom, who gave me one for fig and almond, which she likes to make, and another for cherry because I told her I’d messed mine up the one time I tried it. I ended up combining the two recipes because the fig and almond recipe called for no butter. Even pancake batter calls for butter, and I wasn’t sure it would turn out well. So I used the fruit portions from the one recipe, and the batter proportions from the other.
Clafoutis batter is quite eggy – almost like a flan. The traditional ingredients are sugar, eggs, flour, milk, butter, and fresh fruit, and if you use another fruit than cherry, like I’m doing, the dish is sometimes called flognarde or flaugnarde. And now you have four French names for a dish that only needs one : yummy.
After pre-heating the oven to 180°C (350°F), I generously greased a deep-dish quiche pan (25 cm wide and 4 cm deep), then sliced 250 grams of figs, which equaled 6 small to medium-sized figs.
Then, I warmed 1.5 cups of whole milk plus a teaspoon of vanilla extract, which is not a traditional ingredient. While that was heating, I mixed the dry ingredients : 1 1/3 cups flour, 3/4 cups of sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (which is also not a traditional ingredient. I also melted 100 grams (7 tablespoons) of butter in the microwave.
When I had combined the dry ingredients, I added 6 eggs, two by two, mixing them into the flour.
(My flour, as always, was a gluten-free mix, which works very well in this recipe).
Before the milk started boiling, I poured that into the egg and flour mix, whisking it so it would have no lumps. After that, I poured in the melted butter so all the ingredients were combined, apart from the fruit.
(See the milk on the stove? I’m a messy cook).
Clafoutis batter is surprisingly runny.
I should have put the figs on the bottom of the quiche pan to make a proper clafoutis, but I misread the directions. In the end I’m glad I didn’t do it that way, and let me show you why. I poured the runny batter into the pan, then placed the fig slices on top of the batter. The slices float, so I was able to arrange them in a way that was visually pleasing. If I had poured the batter over the figs, it would not have looked like this.
I sprinkled a large handful of slivered almonds on top of that. My guess is you’ll use about a 1/4 cup, but you can wing it. Then I sprinkled a large tablespoon of granular sugar over that. My French friend Vivi (who has my opposite life – married an American and lives in the US) told me that it makes the dessert sparkle and taste delicious. She’s right, and it also makes the almonds even more crunchy.
Ready to go in the oven for about 40 minutes. Do check your clafoutis to see whether it needs to be turned during the baking time (because it’s browning unevenly) or if the heat needs to be turned down.
And this is what it looks like when it comes out.
I don’t think I need to tell you what a success it was.
It keeps in the refrigerator for 2-3 days (though you should warm it a little before eating), and it’s even good without the crunchy almonds that you get when you eat it warm and straight out of the oven. So you have some flexibility here if you’re making it for a small crowd.
But honestly. Do you really think it will last more than one day?
- 6 figs (250 grams)
- 1.5 cups milk (35 cl)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 100 grams (7 tablespoons) melted butter
- 1⅓ cups flour (120 grams)
- ¾ cups sugar (150 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 eggs
- ¼ cups slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and slice the figs.
- Butter the quiche pan.
- Bring the milk and vanilla to a simmering point and melt the butter separately.
- Mix the dry ingredients, then incorporate the eggs two at a time.
- Mix in the milk first, then butter, and whisk everything together.
- Pour the batter into the quiche pan, then place the figs on top.
- Sprinkle with slivered almonds and sugar.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, checking to make sure it browns evenly.
- Serve warm.
*I I got my information on the history of clafoutis here.
If you’d like to see more French recipes, click on my recipe index here.
