Berry Clafoutis recipe - a traditional French dessert. I made it with Blackberries and Blueberries. Breakfast and dessert recipe.
The main reason I wanted to make this baked French dessert was that I liked how it sounded - berry clafoutis. Doesn't it sound very French and sophisticated and refined? Plus, as you can judge from the name, the berry clafoutis is filled with berries (and I love sweets with berries), and it is different from your usual berry desserts because it has a flan-like texture. So I was excited to give it a try!
Keep in mind that this dessert is not for everybody. Here is an example. My husband loved it because he loves everything "French" and he doesn't like overly sweet desserts. So, judge for yourself and your audience. If you don't like overly sweet desserts but love desserts with a lot of berries - go for this mixed berry clafoutis!
This recipe has only ⅓ cup of flour, compared to 1 cup of half-and-half and 3 eggs, which results in a flan-like texture instead of a cake-like texture. As a result, these dessert bars are very light in terms of the density of the cake batter, which makes berries the star ingredient (as opposed to the cake batter). And that's why I loved this recipe. If that's what you're looking for - you'll love it too!
As I was photographing my berry clafoutis, I had a funny incident, when one of the slices fell off during the photo shoot, and, as a result, I got a funny "food action":
A couple of key things to consider when making berry clafoutis:
1) Make sure to use electric mixer to whisk together the eggs, half-and-half and vanilla extract really well until very smooth and well-combined. If this step is not done properly and you don't whisk eggs enough your dessert might come out too egg-smelly.
2) This kind of dessert tends to stick to the pan. So, while I like to use butter to grease the pan and cut slices right out of the pan (without taking the cake out of the pan), you might want to use non-stick spray like Pam and give a good coat to your pan, just in case.
3) Do not over-cook. Bake exactly for 30 or 35 minutes (NOT LONGER) in a well pre-heated oven and don't open the oven during baking to avoid losing heat. If you overcook this dessert, your eggs will overcook, and it will taste rubbery. After 30 or 35 minutes of baking, the clafoutis should look puffed up, golden around edges and set in the middle (when the top is no more liquid). It should be flan-like.
4) Serve it warm. It's good at room temp and warm with a little cream or half-and-half poured over it.
When you made the berry clafoutis batter, grease the baking pan with butter and then coat with granulated sugar. Alternatively, just use non-stick spray like Pam to ensure your dessert does not stick (it's a very sticky dessert)
Add berries on the bottom
Pour the batter over the berries. It will be very liquid
That's how your berry clafoutis dessert should look after baking for 30-40 minutes (golden around edges, set in the middle):
Berry Clafoutis with Blackberries and Blueberries
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup powdered sugar , plus more for dusting
- pinch of salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter , for greasing the baking pan
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar , for dusting the baking pan
- 6 ounces blackberries
- 6 ounces blueberries
- Lemon zest of half a lemon , optional
Instructions
- Use 9 inch square cake pan.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- In a medium bowl, combine together the flour, baking powder, salt and powdered sugar.
- In a small bowl, using electric mixer, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half and vanilla extract until very smooth and well-combined. Make sure this step is done properly so that in the end your dessert does not come out smelling too much like eggs.
- Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, and stir, using electric mixer, until a smooth batter forms. The batter will be very liquid. At this point, you can mix in optional lemon zest into the batter.
- Grease the bottom and sides of the cake pan with butter. Dust all surfaces of the pan with the granulated sugar and fill the pan with the mixed berries. This type of dessert has a tendency to stick, so instead of butter you might use non-stick spray instead.
- Pour the batter over the berries. Bake 30 – 35 minutes or until puffed up, golden around edges and set in the middle (when the top is no more liquid), and it looks and feels flan-like. Do not open the oven until the end of the baking time, or the clafoutis may collapse. Berries will rise to the top towards the end of baking time. Do not overcook, or your dish will come out “rubbery”.
- Turn out onto a serving plate, dust with powdered sugar and serve warm. It’s also good with a little cream, milk or half and half poured over it. This dessert is best consumed fresh, immediately after baking, or within 2 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Mmmm I added a half teaspoon of grated fresh ginger and a bit more lemon zest and it is the freshest loveliest dessert. This will certainlybe served at many a sunday brunches!
Do you know if it would mess up the recipe to use frozen berries instead of fresh? I absolutely love this dessert. I've made it a few times and I always have to stop myself from eating the whole thing myself! Thanks!
Do you think you could use a dairy-free sub for the half and half such as almond milk??
Would I be able to substitute something non-dairy for the half-and-half? I am trying to make a dessert that is dairy free.
Holy mother of all that is tasty!
This stuff is incredible. Just made it and am not sure if I'll share it with anyone
This clafouti looks delicious! I've made clafouti before but without baking powder. It was wonderful but pretty flat as I see most look. Yours looks more puffed up-to that due to the baking powder? I've also read that you can whip the egg whites separately to achieve a fluffier clafouti. What do u think? Thx!!
Can you double the recipe?
FanFreakingTastic!!!! I really love this recipe. So easy and so yummy!!! I added raspberries because I had them on hand. It turned out amazing!! Thank you
Your recipe says : cup half half of what ??????? Water and milk busy with dry ingredients now
This sounds fantastic, as I'm not a fan of traditional super sweet desserts, and since it uses so little flour, I'd love to give it a try with gluten free flour for myself!
dani @ streetcredfood.blogspot.com
This turned out rubbery even after following the recipe perfectly. Very disappointed!! Won't recommend to anyone and deleting my pin!!
She did say that if you overcook this, the eggs in it will make it rubbery. Maybe your oven runs hot.
Delicious!! I highly prefer fruit desserts to chocolate. I used frozen mixed berries and only had two eggs (d'oh!), but I didn't reduce any measurements and it still came out nicely. The batter part just ended up shallow, with the fruit sticking up. I did have to cook it quite a big longer - nearly 45 minutes - but perhaps that was due to the missing egg or frozen fruit. Yum!