Apricot Clafoutis is a wonderful creamy dessert. The luscious texture is reminiscent of flan. This dessert is lightly sweetened to complement the tang of the apricots. While baking the bright bits of fruits float up to the top creating an elegant presentation. Nut Free
I love this clafoutis. It is a very satisfying dessert to make and serve. Not only it is not overly sugary and or filled with fat but one does not have to be an expert pastry chef to whip up something like this. In other words – it is a very adult friendly dessert ?.
What is Clafoutis
Clafoutis is a French dessert. The best way I can describe is to say that it is a fruit-filled custard cake. It is usually made in a shallow ovenproof dish – like a pie pan or a cast iron skillet or a ratan. The very traditional version features cherries, but these can be made with pretty much any fruit of your choice.
An Easy Dessert To Make
Clafoutis are easy to make, say compared to a sponge cake or pie. It just needs a handful of ingredients, and chances are that you have all these in your pantry already. I make the batter by hand, but I see no harm in using a food processor. Just mix all the ingredients except the flour first. Once you add the flour make sure that you just process for 30 seconds or so or just until the flour gets incorporated.
How easy is that!
Apricots
My neighbor has an apricot tree right by our fence line. All the fruits are green now, but somewhere it is the apricot season. There is a fresh new crop at the store and what is more, it is reasonably priced! Thus a few pounds of apricots ended up on my kitchen counter.
As it ripens the fruit gets tender and sweeter, but it will retain a hint of tartness. When making a dessert with fruits like these, it is important to sample and adjust the sugar according to the tartness of the fruit. There is no need to peel and discard the skin, just core remove the seed and you are good to go.
Clafoutis Batter
The batter for Clafoutis is more like a thin pancake batter than a cake batter. Or consider it as a custard batter with a bit of flour added as a thickener. This means there are eggs, sugar, dairy, flavorings and flour in the batter. The flour in the batter creates a slightly thicker bottom layer and creamy custard-like layer on top. While baking the fruit rises up to the top and embeds themselves in the creamy custard. Filling the dish with batter for about ¾ inch in depth is enough, but trying to go deeper than an inch may not be wise.
Like Custard? Here are a few recipe you might enjoy
- Pasties de Nata – Portuguese Custard Tart
- Caramel Custard or the Simple Flan
- Wattalappam – Tropical Srilankan Baked Custard
- Frozen Cherry Custard
Vanilla and other flavorings
Use the best quality vanilla extract you can find – if you have the beans use them. It is an eggy dessert and vanilla bean and the best quality eggs you can find makes a great deal of difference. Orange and lemon zests are a great addition as well.
How to Make Apricot Clafoutis
- Quarter the apricots and arrange them in a greased dish.
- Make the Clafoutis batter.
- Pour over the arranged fruit.
- Bake.
Variations and substitutions
I like my desserts to be a bit low on the sweet side, but if you like it sweeter double the sugar in the recipe by all means! Earlier I mentioned that it is an adult dessert, which is pretty much code for adding a generous ounce of rum or almond liqueur or whatever your favorite is. If you chose that path, reduce the amount of milk and watch the baking time.
For dairy-free versions – use almond milk and your dairy-free substitute, my favorite is coconut oil.
Flour is added to give the dessert more firmness, so it does not fall apart when slicing. There is no gluten structure required here, so by all means, try your 1:1 substitution of gluten-free flour. Almond flour should be great in this recipe. That said, I haven’t made it using either of these. So if you try it, please let me know how it turns out.
Here is a quick video on how to make Apricot Clafoutis
Notes
- Do not forget to butter the pan/s generously before assembling the dessert.
- You could sprinkle castor sugar on top of the butter – but I never do
- The fruit slices will float up, when arranged tightly it will hold the shape and makes for a pretty presentation.
- Ovens vary, if at 30 minute mark tops begin to brown cover loosely with a piece of foil and let it continue cooking.
Apricot Clafoutis
Equipment
- Whisk
- Shallow Baking Dish
Ingredients
- 1 lb Apricots pitted about 7-8 Medium ones
- 3 Eggs large
- 1/2 cup Sugar Granulated
- 1 Pinch Salt
- 1/2 C A.P Flour
- 2 Tbsp Butter unsalted melted and cooled till just warm
- 1 C Milk whole
- 1 Tsp Vanilla extract Notes
- 2 Tsp Lemon/Orange zest Optional
- Butter As needed for greasing the pan
- Powdered sugar To serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Butter a 9-inch circular pie dish or any other oven-safe shallow dish.
- Quarter the apricots, removing the seeds. Arrange the sliced apricots in the pan in a decorative pattern. Set aside.
- Break the eggs into a medium bowl. Whish a few times to break up the yolks. Add sugar and whisk until all the sugar is incorporated. Add the salt, vanilla extract, melted butter and the zest (if using). Mix well. Add flour and whisk until smooth and lump free. Whisk in the milk. Once the batter looks smooth pour over the prepared apricots.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until the clafoutis is just set with golden edges on the sides. It might be still wobbly in the center, but not runny. If the edges and part of the tops are turning brown but you see liquid along the sides of the fruit, cover the top of the dish loosely with a piece of foil and let it bake for 5 to 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack to cool.
- Wait until it is lukewarm. Dust with powdered sugar, cut into wedges and serve.
Notes
- ½ C sugar makes this dessert lightly sweet. Increase per your taste.
- Use the best quality vanilla extract you have. If you have vanilla pods scrape and use 1 whole bean here.
- Adding the flour before milk makes it easier to get a lump free mixture.
- The batter can be mixed in a food processor as well. Beat all the liquid ingredients and sugar together. Once combined add the flour and blend for 10 seconds or until just combined and lump free.
Nutrition
Important: Nutrition Values are estimates. Actuals vary based on ingredients and serving size.
Denise
Thursday 8th of August 2024
Can you use dried apricots when no fresh available?
Syama
Thursday 29th of August 2024
I never tried it and not sure if it will work well here. Cherries, peaches or any other fresh fruit will be better.
Laura
Tuesday 18th of July 2023
I made this gluten free last night and it turned out great! Everyone loved it whether they knew it was GF or not! I subbed half GF flour blend (Divided Sunset brand) and half almond flour. Delicious!
Kim
Sunday 13th of November 2022
Very easy, and we all loved it! I used fresh apricots that I had previously frozen, and they worked fine.
Willow
Friday 13th of November 2020
This is delicious, easy and looks fancy. I made it with gluten free flour and it turned out great
Syama
Friday 13th of November 2020
Awesome! So glad to hear that it works as a GF dessert. May I ask what GF flour did you use?