Tag: stone fruits

  • Clafoutis aux prunes

    Clafoutis aux prunes

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    Plum clafoutis

    One of my absolute favourite desserts – a twist on the classic cherry clafoutis – celebrates plums at their juiciest. The tartness of the plums balances the custard-like batter perfectly. It’s the kind of dish that feels both indulgent and homey – perfect when plums are in their prime and the weather calls for something warm from the oven.
    If you’ve been following for a while, you’ll know I’m partial to my grand-mère’s recipe. However, after a happy mishap – when I accidentally used half the flour one day – I found myself diving deep into clafoutis studies, exploring recipe percentages and running more than a few tests. The result is this version, my new staple, and a clafoutis that feels just right, as it should.

    Notes

    – Experiment with other fruits, like cherries or pears, but there’s something about plums that gives this clafoutis a lovely balance of sweetness and tartness.
    – Vanilla sugar is a staple in many French and Swedish homes. However, a teaspoonful of vanilla extract will do the trick if you don’t have any on hand. If you wish, you can even make your own vanilla sugar. I always collect used vanilla pods, wash them if needed, and leave them to dry in a pot in my skafferi [pantry] until crisp. Then, I mix 3-4 dried pods with 200-300g of caster sugar, grind them to a powder, and store it in an airtight container.
    Author: Fanny Zanotti
    Prep Time30 minutes
    Cook Time1 hour
    Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
    Makes 25 cm cake

    Ingredients

    • 150 g caster sugar
    • 1 tsp vanilla sugar
    • A pinch of salt
    • 100 g plain flour
    • 3 eggs 167g
    • 250 g whole milk
    • 250 g whipping cream 36%
    • 80 g melted salted butter
    • 400-500 g plums cut in half and stoned

    To prepare the baking dish

    • Butter
    • Cassonade or demerara sugar

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 200°C / fan 180°C. Generously butter a baking dish (24-26cm in diameter) – then sprinkle liberally with cassonade/demerara sugar.
    • In a large bowl, whisk together the caster sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, and plain flour.
    • In a jug, weigh out the eggs, milk, and cream. Gradually pour the milk and cream mixture into the dry ingredients, whisking just enough to just bring it all together. Stir in the melted butter.
    • Arrange the plums in the prepared dish, cut-side down, and pour the batter over them gently.
    • Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C / fan 160°C and bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown and set – with the center still slightly wobbly.
    • Let it cool for a moment before serving – warm or at room temperature.

  • Tarte à l’abricot et à la pistache

    Tarte à l’abricot et à la pistache

    [Apricot and pistachio tart]

    I had a pâton of pâte sucrée in the fridge. And a little bag of roasted pistachios a friend brought back from Lebanon. And of course, too many apricots sitting on the counter.

    An hour later, all this turned into a tart.

    The kind of tarts that are simple and rustic. And yet, ever so delicious. We had a piece still warm from the oven for lunch. And another for dinner, after a baguette garlic steak sandwich that was so good I want to remember it forever. Inside, thick slices of juicy steak with plenty of grated garlic, a dollop of cancoillotte, and salad leaves from the garden.

    With a glass of rosé and a few radishes we’d just picked, it was fairly close to the perfect summer dinner.

    A few hundreds kilometres away, my friend Anna-Sarah* is having her very own perfect dinner. On a péniche [houseboat] with never-ending glasses of champagne. It’s her birthday and I wish her the happiest one ever.

    And if I’m lucky enough, I might even join her on the boat next week-end. Just before I fly back to London. And step into whites again. At the Capital, to give a hand to my friend Richard Hondier who’s now running the kitchen and plating the most delightful dishes I’ve ever seen. And really, I can’t wait.

    * You might know that Anna-Sarah hates apricots, she’s already told me off when I posted this a few days after she’d left (of the I-see-you’re-waiting-until-I’m-gone-to-write-about-apricots kind), so sharing an apricot recipe on her birthday, let’s hope she forgives me!

    Tarte à l’abricot et à la pistache

    This tart is super-quick to put together. Especially if you have some pâte sucrée ready in your fridge or your freezer. I know I always do, and this way, dessert is almost always less than an hour away.

    There is nothing tricky. Pastry, crème d’amandes, fruits, and a little glaze. Ah, yes, just a quick word on crème d’amandes, a stapple in French pâtisseries. I forgot to include it in this list, and really it should be there. The mistake has been corrected since more often than not, you’ll find crèmes d’amandes that feeleither too buttery or too spongy. And most of the times, it even gets called frangipane, and trust me, crème d’amandes in no frangipane.

    To make a gorgeous crème d’amandes, you just have to make sure the eggs are at room temperature. I keep my eggs in the fridge, so they never are. If you add them fridge-cold to the creamed butter, the mixture will split and might leak butter during baking. The trick I use is so simple it hurts. I just place the eggs in hot water – of the tap kind – while I cream the butter and sugar for several minutes. And then, one egg at a time, with a good two minutes of beating in between to bind the emulsion, and make it smooth and airy.

    Now, enough words for such a doodle of a recipe…

    Tarte à l’abricot et à la pistache

    serves 8

    For the pâte sucrée
    130 g butter, at room temperature
    95 g icing sugar
    1 teaspoon sea salt
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    30 g ground almonds
    1 eggs
    250 g plain flour

    Cream the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the ground almonds. And the egg and beat well for around 3 minutes.
    Tip in the flour and mix until just combined.

    Flatten the dough and wrap in clingfilm. Chill for at least 3 hours – or up to 5 days – before using. Or keep frozen, for up to 3 months.

    On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a 4mm-thick rectangle. Carefully wrap the dough around your rolling pin and place on top of a 10x30cm tart tin. Line the tart case with the dough, then trim the edges. Place in the freezer while you get on with the crème d’amandes.

    For the pistachio crème d’amandes
    80 g butter, at room temperature
    100 g caster sugar
    2 eggs    , at room temperature
    60 g ground almonds
    60 g roasted pistachio    , roughly ground
    30 g plain flour

    For the montage
    8 apricots, halved and stoned
    1 tablespoon apricot jam

    Preheat the oven to 180°C.

    Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, for 8-10 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl every now and then. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well – at least 2 minutes – after each addition.
    Tip in the ground almonds and pistachios, then the flour and mix until just combined. Scrape the crème d’amandes into a piping bag fitted with a 12mm nozzle and pipe the cream at the bottom of the prepared tart case.

    Arrange the apricots halves, cut-side up onto the crème d’amandes and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

    In a small pan, place the apricot jam with a little water (around a tablespoon) and bring to the boil. Gently brush this glaze over the hot tart, and allow the tart to cool down at room temperature. Slice into wedges and serve, perhaps with a scoop of ice-cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

  • Les abricots

    Les abricots

    Yesterday, we found a basket on our fence. The third this week. It’s made of osier and hung by a metal hook.

    Inside, we could see apricots. And at times, cherries.

    Most of the fruits have been eaten already. Fresh, torn in halves, with their juices running on our fingers. Really, why mess with perfection?

    But we have still a few kilograms of apricots left. Golden plump jewels. I’ve made an upside-down apricot and camomile cake. It was all sorts of wonderful. A crumb loaded with camomile leaves. The juices of the apricots turning into compote with the heat.

    The recipe will be in the book of course, as most things that happen in my kitchen right now. Really I can’t wait to tell you more about all those words I write and all those cakes I bake. It should be all sorts of wonderful too!

    But in the meantime, I have a question or two. What are your favourite recipes with apricots?

    I have some gathered some notes already, in case you have more apricots that you can possibly eat (is there such thing?).

    – apricot crème crûlée tart.
    – baked apricots with limoncello, from the ever-gorgeous what katie ate.
    – apricot and chocolate baby clafoutis.
    – apricot tart with brown sugar and cinnamon pastry, from BBC goodfood.
    – grilled apricots with honey and olive oil, on Taylor’s beautiful blog.
    – apricot and matcha tiramisu, on – need I say more – my friend’s, Keiko, blog: nordljus which has been an absolute favourite for years.
    – and her roasted apricots with camomile too, a recipe I remember dreaming over six years ago now.
    – rosemary and apricot tarte tatin.