Blueberry and Chocolate Clafoutis
A visit to my friend's house inspired this dessert. She showed me a large walk-in fruit cage of blueberries: all different varieties, all ripening at different times to ensure a constant supply throughout the summer. The powdery colours of the berries - purples, lilacs, sage greens - were breathtakingly beautiful. We spent half an hour effortlessly stripping the branches of the ripest, chatting as we filled huge bowls that we could have replenished several times over.
As I made the drive home from Cambridge to Wiltshire, I got thinking about one of my favourite French desserts: the clafoutis, fruit suspended in a sort of baked custard. Inspired by chocolate and blueberry muffins, I decided to use this flavour combination in my own version of a clafoutis, and this is in the result: an abundance of soft, popping blueberries and pockets of melted chocolate surrounded by a creamy vanilla custard.
Use a deep dish - if the size of yours is slightly different, adjust cooking times accordingly. Use a blunt knife to check it's cooked - if it comes out clean, it is done.
Ingredients
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. As soon as it's melted, remove it from the heat and put to one side.
2. In a large bowl, measure out the sugar, salt, vanilla extract, flour and baking powder.
A visit to my friend's house inspired this dessert. She showed me a large walk-in fruit cage of blueberries: all different varieties, all ripening at different times to ensure a constant supply throughout the summer. The powdery colours of the berries - purples, lilacs, sage greens - were breathtakingly beautiful. We spent half an hour effortlessly stripping the branches of the ripest, chatting as we filled huge bowls that we could have replenished several times over.
As I made the drive home from Cambridge to Wiltshire, I got thinking about one of my favourite French desserts: the clafoutis, fruit suspended in a sort of baked custard. Inspired by chocolate and blueberry muffins, I decided to use this flavour combination in my own version of a clafoutis, and this is in the result: an abundance of soft, popping blueberries and pockets of melted chocolate surrounded by a creamy vanilla custard.
Use a deep dish - if the size of yours is slightly different, adjust cooking times accordingly. Use a blunt knife to check it's cooked - if it comes out clean, it is done.
Ingredients
- 40g melted butter
- 70g caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 100g plain flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 4 eggs
- 200ml semi-skimmed milk
- 250g blueberries, washed
- 100g dark chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar, to decorate
- Oven-proof dish, generously buttered (base and sides). Mine is 30cm x 18cm x 4cm deep.
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. As soon as it's melted, remove it from the heat and put to one side.
2. In a large bowl, measure out the sugar, salt, vanilla extract, flour and baking powder.
3. Beat the eggs and milk together in a jug, then add it little by little to the dry mixture, beating constantly using the electric hand whisk.
4. Add the melted butter gradually, beating constantly with the electric hand whisk.
5. Mix the blueberries and chocolate chips together.
6. Scatter the blueberries and chocolate over the base of the buttered dish, and then pour the batter over the top. You may find it helpful to place the dish on a baking tray, to make it easier to transfer it to the oven. Bake it at 180°C fan for about 45 minutes. Put foil over the top if it's browning too quickly. It's ready when a knife, inserted in the centre, comes out clean.
7. Decorate with sieved icing sugar. Serve warm with ice cream.