A clafouti is a custard in which whole pieces of fruit are set, sometimes in a pastry shell (as in this recipe). The most common clafouti is made with fresh cherries, and this recipe could be easily adapted to include
cherries in place of blueberries. The dough used in this recipe, called pate sucree, is commonly used in French cuisine to line tarts and other liquid-filled pastries.
Ingredients
For making the Pate Sucree via the Creaming
- 6 oz Granulated Sugar
- 14 oz Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- lb Bread Flour (you can substitute A.P., if this is unavailable; regardless of which kind you use, you will need a little extra for rolling out the completed dough)
- 1.5 lbs Uncooked Beans (for blind baking the crust)
For making the Custard Batter
- 1 oz Flour
- 12 oz Granulated Sugar
- 6 Eggs
- 8 oz Heavy Cream
- 12 oz Whole Milk
For Filling and Final Baking of the Clafoutis
- 1 lb 4 oz Blueberries (ideally, fresh blueberries; if using frozen ones, defrost them first and drain off any excess water)
How to Make It
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For making the Pâté Sucrée via the Creaming
- Using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until completely combined.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl—while it is running—and allow the machine to incorporate them fully before proceeding to the next step.
- Add the flour in batches (approximately ¼ pound at a time), allowing the flour to become incorporated into the dough before adding more.
- Once all of the flour has been incorporated, slop the machine and remove the dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in a refrigerator, to allow the dough to rest for at least 20 minutes before rolling it out for the crust. For making the Custard Batter
- Combine the flour, sugar, and eggs in a mixing bowl; whisk to combine well, and then set aside.
- In a small pot, add the heavy cream and milk, and bring this mixture to just below a boil. As soon as it just below boiling, remove it from the heat to prevent it from boiling over.
- Slowly temper in the dairy mixture to the egg/sugar/flour mixture by whisk, making sure to whisk constantly.
- Set the custard mixture aside while the crust is blind baked. For Blind Baking the Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and prepare two 9-inch, 2-piece tart pans by spraying the insides and bottoms with pan spray.
- Remove the chilled and rested dough from the refrigerator, and place it on the workbench along with some extra flour for flouring the bench.
- Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each out into ¼-inch thick circles, making sure to flour underneath the dough as you do this so it doesn’t stick to the bench (you will want to have long, thin spatulas on hand to slide under the dough circles and turn them as they are being rolled out).
- Once the dough is rolled out carefully, roll one piece onto a large rolling pin and then unroll it over the assembled tart pan.
- Once the dough is over the tart pan, carefully lift up the outer edges of the dough and tuck it into all of the corners of the tart pan, leaving the excess hanging over the edge.
- Once the dough has been tucked into all of the corners, take the rolling pin and roll it over the top of the tart pan; this will cut the dough right at the edge of the tart pan and make for a clean edge.
- Repeat steps 4–6 with the second piece of dough and the second tart pan.
- Place parchment paper on top of each tart dough, and fill the tart pans with uncooked beans; place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until tart dough has just set.
- Remove the tart doughs from the oven and set aside to cool. For Filling and Final Baking of the Clafoutis
- Lower the oven temperature to 325°F.
- Remove the beans and parchment paper from the tart pans (the beans can be saved for blind baking in the future).
- Spread the blueberries evenly over the two tarts, place the tarts on a sheet pan, and finish the final work close to the oven.
- Carefully pour the custard mix into the tart pans, up to ¼ inch from the top (do not fill them more, or they will boil over), and place them in the preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the custard sets.
- Once the custard sets, remove the clafoutis from the oven and set them on a cooling rack to cool completely before removing from the tart pans.
- Once the clafoutis have cooled, remove them from the pans by pressing on the bottom ring of each pan (if the dough appears to stick anywhere on the top, use a paring knife to separate the sticking point from the pan—this may happen if the custard boils over and gets in between the crust and the pan).
- To remove each clafouti from the bottom piece of its pan, a long metal spatula can be inserted underneath to slide it off and onto a cutting board or cardboard cake circle.
- To yield portions described at the beginning of the recipe, cut each clafouti into 8 pieces.