Julia Child's Berry Clafoutis

I checked the original recipe, the one referenced in the article, and it's substantially different from this one (more berries, less sugar...) so don't blame Julia Child if it doesn't work for you. This isn't her recipe.

Nice recipe Anne, but the point here is to review the recipe, not use this as a forum for your own totally different dessert.

Prefer recipe from "A Provincial Table," by Richard Olney
2 TBS butter
1 pound apricots, halved and pitted
2 oz slivered almonds
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1-1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter shallow baking dish. Arrange apricots, cut surface down in single layer. Add almonds. Whisk together 1/2 cup sugar, salt, eggs. Whisk in flour, add milk. Pour mixture over apricots. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over surface. Dot with butter. Bake for 40 minutes til golden.

The negative comments are quite overblown and questionable. This recipe works fine as it is written here. If you want to reduce sugar, obviously that's fine too. Julia Child, in the Art of French Cooking, calls these clafoutis and flans interchangeably, and her basic recipe uses 2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour, and 1/3 c. granulated sugar, and 3 cups (1 1/4 Ibs) blackberries or blueberries. The NYT version of the recipe works out fine, but Julia's version is BETTER.

This is actually a recipe for clafouti, not flan. Clafoutis can often be too "eggy" so that they taste too custardy. You can solve the problem by using a little baking powder in the batter to help ensure the puffiness.

From Julia Child's actual cookbook the recipe is slightly different with the changes noted below for the master recipe

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup flour

3 cups (about 1 1/4lb) stemmed and washed blackberries or blueberries

This looked dull, but I tried it. Cooled it just slightly then Hub and I spooned it into small dishes while it was still warm...one taste and there was silence. And then the yumming commenced and instead of proper, polite second helpings, we grabbed a big knife and drew a line across the clafoutis and ate it (vulture style) standing at the kitchen counter. See Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook for a variation... plums and vanilla AND a dab of almond extract.

As others have noted, this isn't quite a flan. I don't think it's really clafouti either. But it is delicious. I made it in a cast iron skillet and it browned beautifully.

What size baking dish? 9x13?

Great recipe. Thank you. This is "adapted" from dear Julia bakers, not directly hers - first clue is that 2% milk can be used. Now Folks, does that sound like the Julia we know and love??? :-)

It is Julia's recipe for clafoutis, not flan. I make it often, with many different fruits and also rhubarb.

Goodness this is tasty. I've made it several different times with different berries - raspberries this last time I think. It's incredibly good and guests love it and it takes virtually no effort.

We loved this. I used strawberries, because that's what I had, otherwise followed directions closely. Spreading the sugar (1/3 C) over the top before you bake is such a nice touch because it gets crispy. I used the same shape baking dish as the picture - assume similar size. Using a lot of butter to prep the dish is key - it came out of the pan very easily but other wise would have been sticky mess. Mine puffed up a lot - more like soufflé. Very pretty. Next time might serve ice cream with.

This is only as good as the berries you use. Pick the smallest baking dish that will hold the ingredients, deeper is better since it will dry out less. If you have plums or other stone fruits go to Child's Clafouti recipe for plums in Mastering the Art of French Cooking - I think Volume 2.

Calling this a "flan" is confusing. I expected something with an egg custard. Clafouti is a specific type of dish, like a cake, pie, tart, etc.

I've made the clafouti recipes from the original cookbook a number of times - she has several different ones for different fruits. I've made pear, blueberry, cherry. They are all good but should be made to be enjoyed immediately by a group because they do not keep well. A fresh, simple dessert for a summer evening.