Wretched Excess

Whenever I see a stretch limousine lumbering along with its televisions, bars and cushy seats, I think "wretched excess" and yet clafouti (or clafoutis), which also originated in the Limousin region of France, is the polar opposite of excess, a dessert designed to make the simple and delicious most out of fruit that is perhaps a little past its prime.

This week, I had a few cherries that were going wrinkly and some blueberries that had shrunk slightly - combined, I had just enough fruit for a clafouti to say thank you to My Beloved's daughter, Katie, who had volunteered to come and upgrade my computer.

If you aren't familiar with clafouti, it's similar to a slightly sweetened popover or pancake batter poured over fresh fruit and baked until it puffs. Eggy, but not custardy, if you get my drift. You can use just about any kind of fruit but the most commonly included are stone fruits such as cherries, peaches, apricots and nectarines.

A quick Google for "clafouti" will get you more recipes than you can handle but I still like the basic one Mrs. Child recorded in her classic, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." It is simplicity itself to make using only a blender, a couple of measuring cups and a pie plate, and it is a lovely early-summer dessert when the fruit is so ripe and perfect that you don't need to fancy it up. My Beloved and I like it a la mode but it's great all by itself and I can even recommend it for breakfast, although that really is wretched excess!