I initially learned to make clafouti just so I could say “claw-foo-tee.” This French custard-like cake has an easily made, rustic look: You simply toss fruit into a pan, pour the thin batter over it and bake. It’s traditionally made with whole black cherries, pits intact, but the batter works well with many fruits.
My first renditions of clafouti resembled a fruit-filled Dutch Baby, and this cake does bake up in much the same way, rising like a souffle in the oven and then intentionally collapsing when you open the door. This creates a golden, crispy base and edges with a sliceable eggy center. My mom often made apple Dutch Baby on Christmas morning, so this seemed a good place to start my clafouti exploration.
The milk-to-flour ratio I use for Dutch Baby seems like a thin batter, but it turns out that it really isn’t thin enough for one of the other defining features of clafouti: fruit that rises to the top. The batter weighed down the fruit so that it stayed on the bottom of the pan. The solution was to create an even more fluid batter.
The ratio I settled on lets the fruit float to the surface as the cake bakes. Besides strawberries, clafouti batter supports other berries and fruit like cinnamon-coated apples, grilled peaches and tart pie cherries (I recommend removing the pits for fewer tooth-cracking bites).
The ultrathin batter also makes clafouti prep even simpler. A hand whisk smoothly blends in the flour without the noise of a blender or food processor. All of the fruit can be scattered in the pan, rather than added in layers to ensure some pokes through the top. When you slice the cake, the smooth custard on the bottom releases easily from the pan, whether you bake it in a cast-iron skillet, glass or ceramic baking dish, pie plate, tart pan or individual ramekins.
Strawberry Clafouti (Pudding Cake)
Serves 6-8
1 pound fresh strawberries
3 eggs
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons rum or brandy (optional)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups 2% or whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Hull the strawberries and cut large ones in half or into quarters; set aside. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and rum, if using, along with 1/2 cup of milk, until the batter changes from thick and lumpy to smooth. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup of milk and the melted butter until fully incorporated and foamy.
Butter a 10- to 12-inch cast-iron skillet or ovenproof baking dish. Spread the berries on the bottom of the pan, and pour the batter over the fruit. Bake at 375°F for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake’s center has set and its edges are brown and puffy. Cool for five minutes and dust with powdered sugar, if desired, before serving.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger at TwiceAsTasty.com.