Apricot clafoutis

Hailing from the Limousin region of France, this traditional dessert is a fabulous way to make use of fresh seasonal fruit. Apricots, cherries, peaches, plums and other stone fruit all pair beautifully with the luscious baked custard-like batter. This recipe has almond meal added to the batter for extra richness.

SERVES 8–10

PREPARATION TIME 10 minutes

COOKING TIME 25–35 minutes

400 g (14 oz) ripe apricots, halved and stoned

1½ teaspoons icing (confectioners’) sugar, plus extra, to dust

125 g (4½ oz/1¼ cups) almond meal

220 g (7¾ oz/1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar

2 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) pouring (whipping) cream

4 eggs, at room temperature

6 egg yolks, at room temperature

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Grease a square 24 cm (9½ inch), 2 litre (70 fl oz/8 cups) ovenproof dish with butter. Place the apricots in the dish, some cut-side up and others cut-side down (pic 1). Sift the icing sugar over the fruit.

2 Put the almond meal, caster sugar and flour in the bowl of a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add the cream, eggs and egg yolks and process until smooth (pic 2). Transfer to a jug.

3 Pour the batter over and around the apricots in the dish (pic 3).

4 Bake the clafoutis for 25–35 minutes or until puffed, golden and just set in the centre, checking after 20 minutes.

5 Serve immediately, dusted with the extra icing sugar.

TIP This clafoutis can also be made using 400 g (14 oz) cherries, pitted. The cooking time will be the same.