043: Ginger-Plum Clafoutis
A ginger candy in custard form (plus an announcement)
Welcome to Homemade Cooking Diary, a newsletter on my journey as a home cook—the successes and failures alike. Cooking log, photo diary, and recipe recommender. Here I discuss the French dessert, Clafoutis—a deceptively easy way to showcase seasonal fruit in the summer. I’m also taking a moment to tell you all about a big life event soon to come.
ALSO: Many thanks to SoRo and SoMo of Highly Enthused for recommending HCD in their excellent newsletter. I’m in such good company amongst the others they mention. Highly Enthused is a podcast I never miss when it’s in season, and while I wait for new episodes I sometimes dip back into the early ones. Give it a listen here.
For quite some time, life has felt like it won’t slow down, while aspects of my daily life feel quiet—long stretches doing nothing but childcare—and I suppose that must be what it feels like to be a parent. You’re experiencing the passage of time like the adult that you are, while at the same time seeing it unfold across the physical and cognitive transformation of a baby. Soon enough your baby isn’t a baby anymore, but a toddler. Your iphone pushes photos from a year ago out to you and you scarcely recognize your toddler as a newborn. It’s wild. And a bit sad. And you’re acutely aware that you have this one life and it’s unfolding fast. What happened to that trip to Italy you were going to take? Oh, right…the pandemic. What happened to all of those movies you wanted to watch and restaurants to try? Shows you wanted to see?
That’s why I’ve been incredibly grateful to be able to parent full-time. I quit my publishing job at the close of my maternity leave (pretty much only because someone needed to do the childcare and we couldn’t really afford a nanny or day care, so it might as well be me!), but I’m so glad I did. It felt like the moment for a new chapter. Fast forward several months and I was presented with an opportunity I couldn’t refuse—despite not being super well-positioned financially or timing-wise with the aforementioned toddler. For years Reed and I had been fantasizing about opening an indie bookstore one day in Newburgh, New York where we now live. There hasn’t been an indie here in decades, and I feel quite passionately that every town needs one. And as an individual who loves to read and has devoted my life to books, and my adulthood to helping publish them, I certainly want one. So a friend here in town told me about a space for lease. And now I’m opening a bookstore. It’s called Golden Hour Books, and I hope to open in mid-August. In the meantime I’m working to build our website—where you can sign up for our newsletter. We’ll have a considerable inventory of new books available to order online, and offering a hybrid of new and used books at our brick-and-mortar location in the City of Newburgh. I couldn’t be more excited. I love sourcing old fun editions of my favorite books and can’t wait to curate a selection of those, in addition to new inventory of books publishing today. Follow us on Instagram and support us on Bookshop.org if you can. Can you tell how terrified (and excited) I am?
Ok, now back to home cooking…you might be wondering, what exactly is a Clafoutis? I wondered myself for a long time and didn’t even attempt, because I was under the mistaken impression that they required a liqueur that I didn’t have, and it felt fussy to acquire something for the sole purpose of baking one dish. Or maybe I just tabled the idea long enough that it never happened. Also, I know very little about French cooking and find myself assuming (erroneously) that everything will be complicated. I’m of an age that my introduction to Julia Child was the mixed bag of a film, Julie & Julia, which portrayed French cooking as something incredibly intimidating and stressful (at least in the Julie parts). It turns out that I was wrong. A Clafoutis is actually pretty simple, and doesn’t require any special ingredients, except fruit. If you’ve been here a bit you may have picked up on my penchant for ease. I’m not here for elaborate cooking projects and am an impatient home cook who cooks a lot. And this might be the easiest recipe I’ve attempted to write because it involves a food processor. If you don’t have one you can mix the ingredients in a large bowl the old fashioned way.
I’ve seen clafoutis compared to flan, and while I’ve never made one I agree that the texture is a bit like that delicate custard, but less jiggly, and with fruit. The preparation of it reminds me more of a Dutch Baby, with far fewer eggs, in the way that it puffs up airily in the oven before collapsing in on itself. The edges of the Clafoutis—covered in sugar sprinkled on partway through baking—become caramelized and fold in a bit over the rest as it settles out of the oven. The caramelized parts are the best parts. Unlike a Dutch Baby, it doesn’t need to be served right away and is best served warm, I think. I also enjoy it straight from the fridge if I have some leftover. I baked mine in a small Le Creuset, but I’ve tried it in cast iron skillet and in an oven-safe baking dish too—all work.
As for the fruit, I love a Clafoutis with blueberries, cherries, and peaches (and they would work here), but chose plums this time. It’s challenging resisting plums when I see them in season—they look like jewels, especially when all of the colors are lined up together at the farmers market—but they aren’t my favorite fruit to eat and sometimes I’m sort of at a loss for what to do with them. I enjoy Marion Burros’s classic Plum Torte, but actually prefer when plums are baked a bit more thoroughly, sort of falling apart by the time they’re done—they stay a bit too intact in a plum torte for my taste. Turns out a Clafoutis is a wonderful way to showcase them. I experimented with both red and yellow plums and loved both—though the red makes for an extra pretty result. The yellow plums disappear into the batter more, so if you want to see the fruit I suggest darker plums.
I’m excited to try this with other spices, and maybe herbs, but here I call for ginger. Specifically a 1-to-2 inch knob of ginger—grated—so the amount can vary depending on how strong you want the ginger to be. I wanted mine pretty strong. The final Clafoutis I made when testing this recipe reminded me of a ginger candy—especially when I got a mouthful that had the subtle crunch of granulated sugar. The final 1/2 cup of sugar is added partway through baking so sometimes the texture of the sugar is still intact (which I love!).
I hope this finds you when plums are in season. They currently are in the American Northeast where I am.
xo AV
A Ginger-Plum Clafoutis
Ingredients
A half-stick of unsalted butter
1 1/4 c whole milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c flour
1 c granulated sugar (divided by half)
pinch of salt
1/2 lb plums, pitted and quartered
1-to-2 inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
powdered sugar for serving (optional)
Method
Heat oven to 350F. Grease your oven-safe pan (small dutch oven, cast iron, any deep-sided skillet or baking dish would work) by melting the butter in it over medium heat (if using a baking dish, melt the butter and then add it to the dish to grease—whatever is best for your chosen equipment).
Combine 1/2 c sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla extract, salt, and ginger in a food processor (be sure to grate your ginger before adding it), on high for a minute or so.
Add the fruit to the dish on top of the butter, and pour your batter on top.
Bake for 15 minutes, then pull it out of the oven and evenly sprinkle the remaining 1/2 c sugar on top.
Bake for another 45-55 minutes until the clafoutis is puffed and browned and a tester comes out clean.
Serve hot or warm in the skillet or baking dish it was baked in. Using a sieve, dust powdered sugar over the clafoutis just beforehand if you feel like it.
While I have you, some recommendations:
Something to read / Jam Bake by Camilla Wynne is a delightful cookbook that’s, as the title suggests, all about baking with jam. I’ve only ever made fridge jam, meaning I’ve never taken the trouble learn to make shelf-stable jam and simply store my jams in the fridge—sure to finish them within a week or two of making. I now feel emboldened to try it since reading this cookbook. She demystifies and uncomplicates the process of sterilizing (and safeguarding against botulism) really well. Wynne is Canadian but of English heritage so the recipes are very British. I might have to make that Eton Mess I’ve always wanted to try (blame it on Great British Bake Off).
Something to watch / Jane B. par Agnes V. (Criterion Channel) is a gorgeous documentary about Jane Birkin, directed by Agnes Varda, that I finally watched for the first time after Birkin’s passing about a week ago. They were close friends and this film was a close collaboration between them. It weaves moments from Birkin’s life (wandering Paris, signing autographs for fans, sitting at home) with gorgeously shot short films dreamed up by the two of them. I’ve never seen another documentary like it. I’m hoping to watch Jane par Charlotte next.
Something to eat / I picked up a bottle of Woon Kitchen Stir Fry Sauce at Little King in Beacon the other week and can’t stop drizzling it over everything. It’s especially good in rice bowls with tuna and vegetables, along with toasted sesame oil and roasted seaweed.
I am so so excited about your bookstore, Angie! Congratulations! You are going to have so much fun.
Jam bake is on my wishlist!!! I love to hear that you love it!