The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Recently, a family friend presented us with a box overloaded with lovely, plump apricots from his yard. As they are one of my favorite fruits, and one that we don’t have growing in our own yard, I was thrilled. After several jars worth of jam making, we still had some of these sweet stone fruits to experiment with in the kitchen. In my quest for effortless recipes for showcasing seasonal fruits, I had recently bookmarked a Julia Child master recipe for clafoutis, a classic dessert from the Limousin region of central France. In my version, with a summery mix of plump cherries and apricots, the resulting dish has a silky texture somewhere between a custard and a cake. For serving, I made whipped cream infused with some basil from our garden.

Ingredients:

For the Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup fresh basil leaves, torn

2 to 3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

For the Clafoutis:

Butter for greasing pan

¾ pound ripe apricots, halved and pitted

¾ pound ripe cherries, halved and pitted

3 eggs

⅔ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

½ cup flour

Pinch of salt

1 ¼ cups whole milk

Directions:

In advance, work on the whipped cream. Pour the heavy cream into a small saucepan and set over medium-high heat. When the cream just starts to simmer, remove from the heat and stir in the basil leaves. Set aside and let the basil steep in the cream for 30 minutes. Then strain out the leaves and place infused cream in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter a 9- or 10-inch ceramic pie or tart pan. Decoratively arrange the fruit, cut side up, in the pan, covering the bottom. It is okay to overlap the fruit a bit.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla. Add the flour and salt, whisking until smooth. Next, add the milk a little bit at a time, whisking between each addition, until smooth. Make sure the batter is completely free of lumps. The mixture will be very wet, like crêpe batter. Pour the batter over the fruit, being careful that all the fruit is submerged. Use a rubber spatula to get all the batter from the bowl.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until the clafoutis has puffed up and the top has turned a light golden brown. If needed, bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. The clafoutis will still have a slight jiggle but should be just set and firm in the middle.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. While cooling, pour basil infused cream into a chilled mixing bowl, preferably a metal bowl. Add the confectioner’s sugar, then use a whisk or an electric hand-held mixer to whip the cream until soft peaks start to hold. Don’t over whip the cream. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Serve the clafoutis slightly warm or at room temperature with a dollop of basil whipped cream.

Notes:

This versatile recipe can be made with any seasonal ripe fruit that you have available. In southern France, the traditional version of clafoutis is usually made with just black cherries. Plums, nectarines, or peaches would all be divine. Ripe berries, such as marionberries, huckleberries, or raspberries would all be lovely in any combination. You could add a little orange zest to the fruit for a slightly brighter flavor.

Bon appétit! Enjoy!