I wish I could tell you exactly what clafoutis is. I wish I could tell you that I haven’t been spelling it wrong all day or that I know how to pronounce it, but I would be lying because honestly….clafoutis? Wikipedia tells me it comes from the verb ‘to fill’ and that it is a Francofile dish roughly amounting to a custard filled with cherries.
Having said all of that, I went ahead and followed Smitten Kitchen’s lead and gave mine a heaping bowl of oranges instead. And cinnamon (because why not?) Like most egg-based dishes (flan, souffle, etc) I spent most of the time it was in the oven worrying about whether it would rise or set properly. It did, thankfully, although I suppose it helps that the ratio of batter/oranges was about 1:1. Fruit is king!
This was delicious, if a bit on the odd side. (What that translates to, really, is that I loved it and everyone else in my family snubbed their noses at it.) It’s a lighter version of cake–not terribly heavy and supplemented with a solid amount vitamin-filled fruit (my healthy-food complex rears it’s ugly head)–and the cinnamon kicks the flavor up a notch or two.
If I could only pronounce it, perhaps I’d brag more about how delicious it was.
CINNAMON ORANGE CLAFOUTIS
(adapted via Smitten Kitchen)
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups peeled orange slices
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of a buttered-and-floured pie dish with orange slices. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs until light and fluffy. Add flour and sugar, continue whisking. Whisk in milk, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth. Pour over orange slices and bake in oven for 40-50 minutes, until pastry is puffy but firm.
