Eat Seasonally
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ByWendy Grahamupdated on
Love gooseberries? Try a tasty seasonal twist on the classic French dessert with this delicious gooseberry clafoutis recipe.
In season from late June, through July and into early August,gooseberries are one of my absolute favourite summer fruits. Growing up we had a gooseberry bush at the bottom of our garden. It was always such a treat, mid-summer, to venture down and eat gooseberries straight from the bush, still hot from the summer sun. While I still enjoy eating gooseberries straight up, I’m always on the lookout for good gooseberry recipes.
Recently, while watching TV, I saw one of my favourite chefs, Nigel Slater, cook cherry clafoutis. It looked absolutely amazing, and I made a mental note to myself that it would also be good made with gooseberries.
I completely forgot about that thought until the other day when, on a whim, I bought some cheap Scottish gooseberries from a market stand in Edinburgh. I was going to eat them raw, but then just in the nick of time Nigel’s cherry clafoutis and my hunch about gooseberries came back to me.
I’m pleased to say my hunch was right, and my partner has requested that I make more and more clafoutis. Coming from him this is definitely a sign of a good clafoutis! So you can enjoy it too, today, I’m sharing this delicious gooseberry clafoutis recipe with you.
- What Is Clafoutis?
- Gooseberry Clafoutis Recipe
- How To Serve
What Is Clafoutis?
Clafoutis is a classic French dessert, typically made with cherries in a thick silky batter. It’s similar to a flan, with a custard base. Originating from the Limousin region of France, the name comes from the local wordclaufir, meaning to cover. After all, the classic version sees fresh cherries being covered in batter. In my seasonal version, we’ve covering gooseberries in batter instead.
It makes for a fantastic summer dessert, made at the height of the soft fruit season. The sweetness of the batter combined with the sharpness of the gooseberries just hits the spot!
Gooseberry Clafoutis Recipe
Adapted from Nigel Slater.
Gooseberry Clafoutis
This delicious gooseberry clafoutis is a tasty and summery twist on the French classic dessert.
Print Recipe
Prep Time:10 minutes mins
Cook Time:35 minutes mins
Total Time:35 minutes mins
Ingredients
- 400 g gooseberries
- 30 g butter plus extra to grease your baking dish
- 2 eggs
- 150 ml milk
- 90 g granulated sugar
- 90 g flour
- 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 180°C/gas mark four.
Cut the tops and stalks off of your gooseberries, and give them a good wash.
Butter a roughly 20cm pie dish or baking tin and then lightly sprinkle with a little bit of icing sugar. Place your gooseberries in the dish.
Beat your eggs and sugar together until creamy. Then add your flour (sifted), vanilla essence and milk and mix well until combined.
Melt your butter in a small pan and add to the mix, stirring well.
Pour the batter over the gooseberries, and place your pan in the oven for around 35 minutes, or until your clafoutis is puffed and golden brown and a skewer or knife comes out clean. I had to place some baking parchment over my clafoutis at around the 20 minute mark to stop it burning, so keep an eye out!
Dust with icing sugar and serve warm, perhaps with a spot of cream!
How To Serve
Traditionally, clafouti is served warm, with nothing else. However, if you want to break with tradition (I already have, by using gooseberries!), then try a dollop of cream or a little Greek yoghurt on the side.
For the photos, I garnished my gooseberry clafoutis with some elderflower. The raw flowers are edible and work really well with gooseberries! You can even make an elderflower cordial from them. See my guide to edible flowers for more edible flower ideas.
I hope you enjoy this gooseberry clafoutis! Do you have any good gooseberry recipes? Do share in the comments below!
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