Now here's a tongue twister - Flaugnarde & not be be beaten by its nemesis - the clafoutis.
Promptly encouraging us all to resort to finger pointing on the menu at the French Bistro for sure. "I'll have that one please" if we so dare and for most part, simply whizzing right past the unpronounceable Flaugnarde or God forbid, Clafoutis to the shall we say, "Creme brulee"?
Very simply put, both these simply consist of baked fruit arranged in a buttered dish covered with a thick flan like custard. There! That's all there is to it.
But Darlings, if we are to save face and not come across as complete culinary bumpkins, we really ought to know when the same dish is called a Flaugnarde & when it's called clafoutis.
The difference lies in the choice of fruit.
A traditional Limousin clafoutis contains cherries, pits and all. And according to stiff upper lipped purists, the pits release a wonderful flavor when the dish is cooked and cherry pits removed prior to baking will result in a milder tasting clafoutis.
Quite honestly, when this fruity custardy delight comes out of the oven and onto the table can you imagine stopping with each mouthful to pull the pits out of your mouth? I think not!
Any way, back to the topic of names, when other kinds of fruit are used instead of cherries, the dish is called flaugnarde and since we are fixing ours today with pears and blackberries and not cherries, it stands to reason that ours should aptly be called a flaugnarde.
Needless to say, no matter how much of a mouthful the name, you'll be shoveling mouthfuls of this for entirely different reasons!
You will need - 3 overripe but firm pairs (must be over-ripe or else you would need to stew them first to soften), fresh, ripe black berries, 1 orange, Grand Marnier liqueur, powdered sugar, all purpose flour , unsalted butter, heavy whipping cream, milk, eggs at room temperature, pure vanilla extract, salt and some extra powdered sugar for dusting.
Use a heavy bottomed baking dish such as cast iron for uniform baking.
Prepare the ingredients -
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
Butter - Melt 2 tbs butter in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave ( 30 seconds)
Pour the melted butter into the baking dish and swirl around so it uniformly coats the bottom of the dish.
Orange - Using a zester, grate the zest of 1 orange turning as your go to avoid the pith. I swear by my Microplane zester for this.
Pears - Though my pears look like they are on their last legs (they have been in the refrigerator) they are firm and ripe.
Also cut away any soft or brown spots. Have, cut away the core and slice into 1/8" thick slices.
Begin arranging the pears along the outside of the dish and working your way in.
Keep going till all the pear slices have been used up. Overlap the slices if needed. This is not an exact science so don't make it one.
Drop and spread out the black berries over the pears. Sprinkle 1 tbs powdered sugar and 1 tbs Grand Marnier liqueur over all the fruit. Set aside.
To make the 'flan' batter -
In a large bowl combine the heavy whipping cream, milk, vanilla extract and orange zest. Stir to combine. Set aside.
For these steps, employ the use of a mixer or a food processor -
To the bowl add the 3 eggs (at room temperature), powdered sugar and salt.
Whip up for about 2 minutes till the egg-sugar mixture is pale and light and has increased in volume.
While the machine is still whirring, add the all purpose flour and immediately pour in the cream mixture. Turn off the food processor as soon as you finish pouring.
Pour the flan batter all over the fruit. Dot with a pat of butter.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes till the flan is 'set' when you lightly shake the baking dish.
Please wear your oven mittens while doing this. Thank You!
The flan will have a very slight coloring to it. Do not wait for it to brown.
Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. Then dust some powdered sugar on the flan by putting 1/2 tbs of the sugar in a sieve and dusting all over.
Serve the flaugnarde warm with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Delicious!
Light, refreshing and fluffy - this dessert celebrates the best fruits of the season.
The flavor of the pears, sweet blackberries and the distinct fragrance of the oranges pairs wells with the sweet creamy 'flan' custard. Such a lovely summer dessert and adaptable using fruits of the season such as apples, cherries and berries of course!
Hope you'll delight your family and friends with this seasonal dessert.
Recipe for
Flaugnarde Dearies with Pears & Blackberries
Adapted from a recipe from delicious.magazine
Preparation time - 20 minutes
Baking Time - 30-35 minutes
Serves 4-6
Shopping list
3 overripe pears
6 oz fresh, ripe black berries
1 tbs powdered sugar - to macerate fruit
1 tbs Grand Marnier liqueur
2 tbs unsalted butter
For the 'flan' custard -
8 oz heavy whipping cream
4 oz milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
3 oz all purpose flour
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
1 pat unsalted butter
1/2 tbs powdered sugar for dusting
Preparation -
Butter - Melt 2 tbs butter in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave ( 30 seconds)
Pour the melted butter into the baking dish and swirl around so it uniformly coats the bottom of the dish.
Orange - Using a zester, grate the zest of 1 orange turning as your go to avoid the pith.
Pears - Though my pears look like they are on their last legs (they have been in the refrigerator) they are firm and ripe.
Also cut away any soft or brown spots. Have, cut away the core and slice into 1/8" thick slices.
Begin arranging the pears along the outside of the dish and working your way in.
Keep going till all the pear slices have been used up. Overlap the slices if needed. This is not an exact science so don't make it one.
Drop and spread out the black berries over the pears. Sprinkle 1 tbs powdered sugar and 1 tbs Grand Marnier liqueur over all the fruit. Set aside.
Method -
In a large bowl combine the heavy whipping cream, milk, vanilla extract and orange zest. Stir to combine. Set aside.
For these steps, employ the use of a mixer or a food processor -
To the bowl add the 3 eggs (at room temperature), powdered sugar and salt.
Whip up for about 2 minutes till the egg-sugar mixture is pale and light and has increased in volume.
While the machine is still whirring, add the all purpose flour and immediately pour in the cream mixture. Turn off the food processor as soon as you finish pouring.
Pour the flan batter all over the fruit. Dot with a pat of butter.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes till the flan is 'set' when you lightly shake the baking dish.
Please wear your oven mittens while doing this. Thank You!
The flan will have a very slight coloring to it. Do not wait for it to brown.
Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. Then dust some powdered sugar on the flan by putting 1/2 tbs of the sugar in a sieve and dusting all over.
Serve warm with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy!
Recent Comments