Rhubarb Clafoutis
Rhubarb makes for an exciting partnership with all manner of things, but none better than custard. Custard too, whether thick or thin has many variations; from softly set crème brûlées to frozen ice cream, but in this case the custard takes on the form of a batter, not dissimilar to the sort required for a bread and butter pudding, or pain perdu for example. But in this case without the bread, the batter, with the addition of a little flour, becomes the focal point.
This simple dessert is to fruit, what sausages are to toad in the hole. The classic recipe uses cherries, but most soft fruits work well. It is no more technically demanding than making pancakes; as long as you have a lump free batter you will have a clafoutis.
If you have time, tossing the rhubarb in sugar in advance and leaving it to macerate will render it slightly less tart, but a good dusting of icing sugar over the finished dish will take the edge off it any way.
This is not the kind of dish that reheats to near perfection again, however everything can be prepared well in advance, and in fact some people swear by resting a batter in the fridge anyway. In which case if the dishes are pre-greased and the rhubarb already chopped, it’s simply a case of filling the dish and sliding it in the oven as you sit down to dinner.
Ingredients
(serves 6)
3 – 4 stalks rhubarb, weighing 200g when trimmed
150ml double cream
100ml milk
100g caster sugar
2 whole eggs
2 x yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla paste
35g plain flour
Pinch of salt
Butter for greasing + 1 tablespoon sugar
Preheat the oven to 185⁰C.
Grease six individual ramekins, or one large dish measuring 25cm x 25cm.
Add the cream to the milk in a Pyrex jug and stir in the vanilla.
In a large bowl combine the sugar with a pinch of salt, and sieve in the flour. Mix together and make a well in the centre.
Add the eggs and the extra yolks and whisk together, gradually incorporating the flour, as you would for pancakes. Trickle in the milk as you continue to whisk the eggs to form a smooth batter.
Let the batter sit whilst you grease the dish(es), then sprinkle over a tablespoon of caster sugar to coat evenly. Tap out the excess sugar over the sink.
Cut the rhubarb into small batons, 4 cm or an inch and a half long and arrange in the bottom of the dish. The rhubarb will float once you pour in the batter, but be mindful that it will float in whatever pattern you arrange it in.
Pour over the batter to roughly three quarters full and place in the centre of the oven for 25 – 35 mins. It may look risen and no longer wobble, but test the centre is cooked with a cocktail stick – it should come out clean. The batter will rise like a Yorkshire pudding and collapse again once removed from the oven.
Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.