Number 15: Mastering a dessert, Flans and Clafoutis

"I've attached the recipe for the plum tart as requested by SJ. We cut the

sugar down further and use two more plums than the recipe calls for. We

weigh the plums without the stone.

Love,

Karin"

I have a refrain in my head that I do not - or cannot bake - so one of my different things this year is to master a dessert, specifically a flan, and particularly Clafoutis in cherry season. 

At our last bookclub Karin effortlessly presented a plum flan, good for teas and even better as a dessert with ice cream or marscapone. So I am off shopping for ingredients now and doing my first dry run for coffee evening with my quilt group.

NUMBER 15:

Mastering a dessert,  Flans and Clafoutis

Flan Ingredients:

175 g sugar, 55 g butter, 115 g plain flour, 5 ml baking powder, 5 ml grated orange or lemon rind, 60 ml skimmed milk, 450 g plums stoned and halved, 115 g brown sugar, 5 ml cinnamon.

How to:

In a large bowl and using a mixer, cream together the sugar and butter, beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder and orange/lemon rind, beat into egg mixture alternately with milk, making three additions of flour and two of milk. Turn into a greased 25 cm spring form cake tine. Arrange plums, cut side down, in circles on top, lightly pushing into mixture. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle over plums.

Bake at 180 C for 45-55 minutes or until top is golden and skewer inserted into flan comes out clean.

Serves 10.

(Can use nectarines or apricots, tinned apples or pears too.)

The making of a plum flan.

The first change I am making is to use my gorgeous brick red French Emile Henry Tatin dish to both bake and serve the flan in. I found large, ripe black plums for this first attempt and used half the quantity of treacle sugar. 

So first learning is that the plums dominated the flan, too many and too large and confession - I did not weigh the fruit, baking is not cooking, I will try to be more precise. Taste was yummy though, so ready to try another one next week with more discipline and some tweaks....
Update: so doubled the recipe for a Sunday lunch at June and Ross, too much like a cake and not enough plums, so back to the drawing board!

Gooseberry Clafoutis

Clafoutis Ingredients: 

75 g flour, pinch of salt, 75g castor sugar, 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, about 250 ml milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, punnet of Cape gooseberries soaked in Caramel Vodka.

How to:

Sifted flour and sugar in the bowl, make a well for the eggs and milk and beat gradually, add melted butter. The batter is like an thin custard. Prepare the flan dish, place fruit on the bottom and pour over the batter mix. Bake for 25 minutes at 200 degrees C. Let cool slightly, dust with castor sugar and serve with thick cream.

I cooked for Gavin and David from London last night and fearlessly made my first Cape Gooseberry Clafoutis, even adapting the traditional French recipe!
Absolutely delicious.
Ok, so either beginners luck or a great recipe, we will see when I make it a second time.
And I did too, this time with raspberries for a special dinner with our family and - delicious!