A clafouti with blackberries though you will want to experiment with every fruit once you taste this…

Years ago I had a taste of a blackberry dish that Jim Tollerico had prepared. He said that the recipe had come down in his family and it served him well since he had quite the stand of blackberries on his property. My thought had always been to get that recipe from him but Jim passed before I got around to asking.

Fast-forward several years and I now have my own blackberry patch. I thought of Jim and that tasty bite of berry heaven. I couldn’t even remember what he had called it. Then one blessed day I came upon a clafouti recipe that sounded much like what Jim had prepared. Yes indeed, there it was, just waiting for me!

Clafouti or clafoutis is something of a pudding cake, moist with fruit and not a lot of sugar added. In the last few months I’ve tried a number of clafouti recipes, each differing a bit. Fresh fruit, eggs, and milk are the common denominator. This is the recipe we have settled on, the texture being the selling point for us. Also, it makes up well with Bob’s gluten-free baking mix.

The original recipe comes from What’s Cooking America. I made a few tweaks to render it more acceptable as a breakfast food.

Originally we made just blackberry clafouti and then branched out to blueberry and strawberry, blackberry and plum, peach and raspberry. They are all superb and make a fine breakfast or addition to breakfast.

After making this recipe twice, eleven-year-old Frederick said he could make it on his own. “No problem!” It is truly quick and simple, one lovely fruit treat to enjoy regularly.

Thank you, Jim! I doubt that I would have tried this recipe without experiencing your pan of clafouti.

Blackberry Clafouti Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar of choice
• Zest of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup of Bob’s gluten free baking mix or 1 1/4 cup all purpose
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2-4 cups cleaned blackberries (the more the better)
• 1 tablespoon plum jam for glazing the top

Blackberry Clafouti Steps

1. Melt the butter in a 12 inch iron skillet and swirl to coat the bottom and the sides. You could use a 9×12 baking dish instead. Butter the bottom and the sides.
2. Sprinkle a bit of the sugar over the berries and toss them gently. The sugar sweetens the berries and helps to begin the process of releasing juice.
3. Spread the berries evenly over the bottom of the baking utensil.
4. In a blender place the rest of the sugar, the eggs, lemon zest and juice, baking mix, vanilla and milk. Pulse the blender just enough to mix the ingredients. Do not over-blend.
5. Pour the mixture slowly over the berries. If you just dump it you will displace the berries and end up with some slices clafouti missing out on the blackberry goodness that makes this dish so mouth-watering.
6. Bake the clafouti for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees. The top will just begin to brown. Test the clafouti with a toothpick or sharp knife for doneness.
7. Thin the plum jam with a little water to bring it to spreading consistency. Brush the jam over the top of the hot clafouti for a pretty glazed finish.

Serve warm or cold. Serve alone or with cream, poured over the top or whipped. Serve it to all those smiling faces waiting by the kitchen door!