Late summer is the season for stone fruit—peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, and cherries. (They’re called stone fruit because of the large, dense seed you find in the middle.) I’ve see baskets and baskets of peaches at the farmers market last weekend and this weekend and there are mountains tumbling off displays at the grocery store.
Late summer. Can you believe it?
I feel like we’re rushing to get as much out of summer as possible because it’s barely before it’s begun. So, to squeeze in as much summer as possible, we’ve been taking weekly trips to the farmers markets and eating up every last ounce of the tastes of summer, and this honey and stone fruit clafouti fits the bill perfectly!
You do have to turn on the oven, but the result is full of flavor and completely worth it: sweet plums and cherries, tart apricots, mellowly sweet peaches together with honey in a slightly cakey, slightly custardy clafouti.
A clafouti (or as my husband calls is a “kerfuffle”, not to be confused with a “kerfluffle”, which is what we call a group of huskies…) is a beautifully simple French dessert—it takes minutes to put together and has a minimal number of ingredients.
Besides the fact that it’s delicious and simple, why did I choose it for this particular blog post? Because the simplicity of the ingredients allows the fruit—whatever fruit you’re using—to shine. It’s the perfect way to savor the summer.
A few notes: the recipe usually calls for a ceramic dish, but I don’t have one as of yet, so I used a nine-inch cake pan with low sides.
You also need to make sure you really beat the eggs until they’re foaming—it will help whip air into the mixture and ensure the custard inflates.
Allergy-Friendly Options: this recipe is perfectly good with gluten-free flour! In fact, the cake I used for these photos was made with gluten-free flour. I used the Trader Joe’s brand, which is pretty good and cheaper than most, but you can use your favorite brand of gluten-free flour.
You can also make this dairy free by using almond milk, or another type of non-dairy milk. While I haven’t tested this recipe with all non-dairy milks, it certainly works just as well with almond milk as with dairy milk (husband tested, husband approved. And he’s not a fan of almond milk. “You can’t milk an almond,” as he says).
- 2 to 3 pieces of stone fruit cut into ⅛ inch slices and/or a handful of pitted cherries cut in half
- 1 C. whole milk or almond milk
- ½ C. all-purpose flour or gluten free flour
- ¼ to ½ C. honey, plus more for drizzling
- 3 eggs
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbs. vanilla extract
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- Butter a nine-inch cake pan or ceramic dish and preheat the oven to 350°.
- Slice all the stone fruit into ⅛ inch slices, or, if using cherries, in half.
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk until light in color and frothy. Stir in the vanilla, milk, salt, and cinnamon and whisk until combined.
- Melt the butter and pour it into the pan, then drizzle honey over the butter.
- Arrange the stone fruit pieces in the bottom of the pan in a single layer, then pour the batter over the stone fruit.
- Place the clafouti into the oven for 50 to 60 minutes until set, puffed, and browned.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes and enjoy!
This dessert pairs beautifully right out of the oven with vanilla ice cream or even a crème anglaise, but it’s also perfectly good just the way it is.
‘Till next time!
It’s (just about) officially summer, and I don’t know about you, but I definitely love my Popsicles when it’s so stinking hot outside. Heat and me? We don’t get along well, so anything that will cool me down is great in my book, but if it’s sweet? Just a bonus!
