A Mother-Son Peach Clafoutis

So, I was playing around with the proportions for batter recipe, and when I had it down pretty well, I realized I was well behind the gun in terms of making dinner for the bunch of people that were coming over in short order. So, what does a mom do? She hands the recipe to her perfectly capable 12-year-old son and says, “Here, make this clafoutis.” To which he replies, “Make this whaaaa?” So after explaining what a clafoutis (or clafouti) is (a baked dessert of French origin, classically made with cherries, even more classically made with cherries with the pits still left in them, all ensconced in a lightly sweetened pancake-like batter which is poured over the fruit, and which puffs up enticingly all around the fruit when it bakes), I stepped away from the ingredients and let the boy go to work.

In this case, however, the beautiful, local ripe peaches that were sitting on the kitchen counter were volunteering, and you can use any fruit, really. This is an awesome bluerprint recipe. Full disclosure: I did help with the peeling of the peaches. But the rest was all Jack.

Serve it still warm from the oven; you’ll notice that it falls a bit as it cools, which is okay, but it is really nice served still a bit warm, and the cold ice cream is a great contrast to the cake.

Also, this serves 8 to 10 only if everyone shows a little restraint, and gets generous portions of ice cream to go with it.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar, and cinnamon, if using.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and/or half and half, eggs, and vanilla. Pour this into the dry mixture, and whisk the batter until smooth. Let sit in the refrigerator while you prepare the peaches.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop the peaches into the boiling water, and let them cook for 15 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon, and slip off the skins. Cut the peaches into slices.
5. Generously butter a pretty 10-cup baking dish (you will be serving the clafoutis in the dish you bake it in.) Arrange the peaches on the bottom of the baking dish, then pour the batter over the fruit.
6. Bake for about one hour. Remove from the oven when the clafoutis is puffed and brown, just a teeny bit jiggly in the middle, and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Sprinkle warm with powdered sugar, if desired, and whipped cream or ice cream.