Strawberry-Rhubarb Clafouti

Last weeks's visit to the St. Lawrence Market yielded some lovely golden beets, wild arugula and rhubarb.

I've decided to turn the rhubarb into a dessert called a Clafouti to take to my friend Val's today for our brunch.  A Clafouti is a fruit dish covered in a batter. The dish is baked and the batter puffs up during the process. Often it is served warm topped with whipped cream or ice cream, or simply served plain.

Traditionally, Clafoutis are made with cherries only and French peasants used to leave pits in the cherries  for extra flavour.  Not sure I would like to dig into my dessert only to be greeted by cherry pits!

If you apply the Clafouti recipe to any other fruit, technically you are making a Flognarde.  But I am going to call this Strawberr-Rhubarb Clafouti since it sounds much more appetizing than calling it a Flognard!

As you can see from my photo, this is not a particularly elegant dish but as long as it tastes good that is the main thing! I probably could have used about 10 minutes less in the oven, so I have adjusted the recipe to reflect that.

Strawberry Rhubarb Clafouti

Fruit Filing:

3 cups rhubarb, diced  (about 3 stalks)
1 cup strawberries, hulled and diced
1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon  vanilla
pinch of salt
pinch of nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized pot or deep pan and cook on low heat until the strawberries and rhubarb are tender and sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Batter

3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and ensure your oven rack is in the middle of the oven.

Generously butter the inside of a 10" pie plate - a deep dish plate works best. Gently combine the batter ingredients until smooth. You can do this by hand, using a stand mixer or in your food processor.  The batter will resemble a thin pancake batter.

Pour a thin layer of batter (about 1/4") on the bottom of the pie plate. Set in the oven until the thin layer has cooked about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and spread the rhubarb mixture over the set layer of batter.



Pour the rest of the batter over top, and place in the oven and bake until browned and crust has risen, about 50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick or skewer inserted into the center  comes out clean.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or, as we are with a dollop of greek yogurt sweetened with honey.