Easy Gooseberry Clafoutis Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you know when clafoutis is cooked? ›

Insert a toothpick in the middle of the clafoutis, avoiding any cherries. If it comes out clean, you can take it out of the oven. If there is still some batter sticking to the toothpick, let it cook for 5-10 minutes intervals until the toothpick comes out clean.

How to cook gooseberries. Poach (10-15 minutes) and use to make crumbles or pies. Poach then purée to make gooseberry fool, ice cream, or a tart sauce for rich roasts like pork or goose.

Clafoutis is most perfectly delicious when it's a bit warm or at room temperature, best eaten within an hour of coming out of the oven. Leftovers should be refrigerated, and they can for sure be enjoyed cold.

The eggs give the clafouti its lift as well as adding richness in both the ure and flavor. I tested two, three and four eggs and settled on three large. If I used fewer eggs the clafouti was limp and wet and more eggs made it rubbery.

A cherry clafoutis is never served hot, straight out of the oven. First leave to cool and either serve slightly warmed, at room temperature or chilled. Serve slices directly from the dish. Although served for dessert or teatime, we also love this chilled for breakfast or brunch on the weekends.

Easy to add to your diet. For maximum health benefits, it's best to enjoy gooseberries raw. Their flavor ranges from quite sour to relatively sweet, a little bit like slightly underripe grapes. The riper the fruit, the sweeter it becomes.

The great thing about gooseberry jam is that the gooseberries change in colour, adopting an appetising warm pinkish hue with the intense heat of jam-making. This change is apparently due to the anthocyanins in the gooseberries interacting with metal ions leached from the cooking vessel itself.

Gooseberries are often added to drinks and desserts as a compote or purée, as well as being made into jams, chutneys and sauces in savoury dishes. They pair especially well with other seasonal fruits such as elderflowers and strawberries, along with citrus fruits.

One reported derivation of dish's name is from Occitan clafotís, from the verb clafir, meaning "to fill" (implied: "the batter with cherries"). Another reported derivation is that clafir comes from old French claufir, meaning "to fix with nails," explained as the cherries having the appearance of nail heads.

Clafoutis originated in a region in south-central France called Limousin. Its name comes from the Occitan word “clafir,” meaning “to fill.” So popular was it “to fill” a dish with fruit and batter, that by the 19th century, clafoutis' renown had spread from Limousin to other regions of France and bordering countries.

What is a clafoutis in English? ›

noun. cla·​fou·​ti ˌklä-fü-ˈtē variants or less commonly clafoutis. : a dessert consisting of a layer of fruit (such as cherries) topped with batter and baked.

They can't be machine-harvested so they don't fit with the supermarket business model. Supermarkets like uniformity, low production cost, and the hell with quality and flavour. Gooseberries are divine but there's no place for them in the industrialised mass market. You have to find a specialist, or grow them yourself.

This lack of popularity could be due to early 1900s federal law that banned gooseberry cultivation because they are carriers of a fungal disease that can attack white pines — of which we Americans are very protective. The restrictions likely curbed their recognition, making gooseberries a little-known delicacy.

HANDLING: Wash gooseberries and remove stems (you can pinch off the stems or just use a pair of kitchen scissors). STORING: Fresh gooseberries will keep up to 2 weeks in fridge.

Pastries are done when they are baked to a nice golden brown, unless they contain chocolate, coffee, or something else that makes it difficult to tell. They should be crisp on the bottom, not soft or soggy. If they involve batter, a tester inserted in the center will come out clean or with only a few crumbs.

You should see a few crumbs stuck to the tester, not a greasy smear of batter. The edges should also feel firm to touch (crispy), and the surface, soft when pressed with no spring. Now, you can confidently prepare your favorite pastries.

Cook or bake until a thermometer inserted at the center shows 160° F or a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. You may find it difficult to tell if a knife shows uncooked egg or melted cheese in some casseroles and other combination dishes that are thick or heavy and contain cheese – lasagna, for example.