When late summer's fresh plums are abundant and ripe, make this plum clafoutis recipe. It's a charming, simple dessert of juicy plums nestled in a custard-like batter spiked with brandy. It's also easy to make and will be a fast favorite in your household.
Jump to Recipe | What is it? | Ingredient Notes | Tips | Variations | Questions
What is a clafoutis?
A clafoutis is a fruit dish from the Limousin region of France that's traditionally made with fresh cherries. You nestle fresh fruit in an eggy, custard-like batter and let it bake. The result is a sweet, delicate, classic French dessert that's similar to both Dutch baby pancakes and another French classic - flaugnarde.
For this version, we skip the cherries and use sweet plums instead, making a soft and custard-like plum cake that's delicate and delicious. The end result is a simple plum dessert that's softly sweet and vibrant with the bright flavor of summer.
Why This Recipe Works
- This is an easy, elegant dessert that's much less complicated than making cakes, tarts, or even cookies.
- A clafoutis requires plenty of eggs and milk but less flour and sugar than a traditional cake. For this reason, it's a little healthier than most desserts.
- We cut the plums in half, which allows them to bake to a syrupy sweetness without leaking too much juice into the batter.
- You can serve it warm or at room temperature, and it's equally good for breakfast as it is for dessert.
Ingredient Notes
- Plums give the clafoutis its heart and its flavor. Choose ripe but firm plums for this dish. Underripe plums will lack flavor, and soft plums will become a puddle of juice once you bake them.
- Eggs give the cake both structure and its custard-like consistency. Pasture-raised eggs will contribute the most flavor and nutrition.
- Whole milk forms the liquid portion of the recipe. For a more luxurious and richer version of the dish, you can substitute half-and-half for the whole milk.
- Sugar lends a little sweetness to the dessert. We favor a minimally processed whole cane sugar, such as rapadura, for this recipe. Minimally processed sugars retain many of their minerals and have a richer flavor than white, granulated sugar.
- Flour binds the eggs and milk together as they bake, giving the clafoutis its cake-like appearance. Einkorn flour works particularly well in clafoutis because it has a rich flavor and soft texture, but all-purpose flour is fine, too.
- Brandy amplifies the flavor of the plums and gives the clafoutis an elusive complex note. You can also swap in other flavorings, such as vanilla, almond extract, or a little noyaux,
- Salt balances the sweetness of the dish. It also perks up the flavor of the plums.
Recipe Tips
- Butter the dish well to prevent sticking. Clafoutis are notorious for sticking to the pan, and a little bit of butter goes a long way.
- Use a high-speed blender or food processor to make the batter. It's a lot faster than whisking the ingredients together by hand, and you'll form a more consistent and uniform batter.
- Your batter should have the consistency of heavy cream or pancake batter.
- Choose firm (but ripe) plums. They need to have plenty of sweetness and good flavor but shouldn't be too soft.
- Slice the plums in half and arrange them cut-side up in the baking pan. Their juices will collect in the fruit's cavity where you removed the pit and will result in less seepage into the custard batter. Your clafoutis will also be less likely to curdle.
- Bake the clafoutis until it's golden brown and slightly puffed. It should still tremble ever so slightly in the center when you jostle the baking dish, similar to a custard.
- Many clafoutis recipes call for cooking a little batter in the base of the pan before adding the fruit. It's a helpful technique when working with smaller fruits such as berries or cherries, and we even call for the technique in this blueberry clafoutis recipe. But, when you work with large fruit, such as halved plums, you can skip this step as they are too big to sink to the bottom of the pan the way smaller fruit does.
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Variations + Substitutions
Try an almond-scented plum clafoutis by substituting amaretto for the brandy and adding up to ¼ cup almond flour to the egg mixture. A little almond extract is delicious in this recipe, too.
If you don't wish to use brandy, consider using vanilla extract instead. Vanilla is a delicious companion to fresh plums.
Lemon zest can be a nice addition to the batter. It's bright, citric notes work well with plums. If you add lemon zest, consider swapping the brandy for orange-flavored liqueur or add a spoonful of orange flower water.
You can easily substitute many other fresh fruits for the plums in this recipe. Berries and other stone fruits work well. Adding sweet black cherries will give you something similar to a classic cherry clafoutis. Roasted pears work well in the autumn.
Consider making individual portions by nestling half a plum in a small buttered ramekin and then pouring the batter over it. Since smaller dishes will heat more rapidly, consider baking them in a water bath. It's the best way to ensure an even texture.
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Recipe Questions
How long does it keep?
You can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
Can I freeze it?
While you can freeze a clafoutis, freezing changes its
What kind of dish should I use?
You should use an ovenproof dish. It can be a cast-iron skillet, a ceramic baking dish, a tart pan, or a pie dish. I prefer to bake them in a 1 ½-quart ceramic baking dish,
What kind of plums should I use?
Just about any variety of plum will work in this recipe, as long as it is sweet, ripe, and still a bit firm. Black plums are my favorite, but Italian prune plums work well, too.
How do I know it's done?
While you can prick a cake with the tines of a fork to see if it's ready, a clafoutis is a little different. Since clafoutis is a custard-like cake, its center will still wobble and appear to be slightly lightly liquid when it is finished.
