Apple Clafoutis

[chanaleh]

Hooray, I found the recipe I wanted to make for Rosh Hashanah dessert for the two dinner invitations I have tonight and tomorrow! It used to be posted on my fridge and I wasn't sure where I had packed it, but I discovered it tucked away right where it should be, in the file box, in the folder labeled Recipes. Doesn't tell me where I packed the rest of the fridge magnets and such, but I'll gladly take this for now.


Apple Clafoutis
From Sheryl Julian and Julie Riven, originally published in the Boston Globe Magazine, date unknown (probably 2005-ish). The Globe published a more recent but different recipe online in 2010.

"Part pancake, part custard, clafoutis was originally made in the Limousin region of France with its famously luscious cherries. This version uses apples. Cortlands can be peeled in advance, and they will neither brown nor turn watery in the dish. They are spread in a dish and baked with a custard on top. The mixture is best eaten warm, though it is still wonderful at room temperature."

6 Cortland or other baking apples
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
4 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioner's sugar (for sprinkling)

Set the oven at 350 degrees. Butter a deep 9x13 baking dish or a round dish with a 3-1/2 quart capacity.

Peel, halve, and core the apples. Place them cut sides down on a cutting board. Using a paring knife, slice the apples thinly, but leave them in the shape of the apple half. Set the cut apple halves in the dish. Using your hand, spread the pieces like dominoes, so the slices overlap. Sprinkle them with brown sugar. Set aside.

In an electric mixer, beat the eggs at medium speed for 1 minute. Beat in the milk, cream, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute more.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the liquid, beating just until they are well incorporated.

Pour the mixture over the apples. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until the clafoutis is puffed, the edges are browned, and the mixture is set in the middle.

Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and serve warm [or at room temperature].


Also, h/t to msmidge: At some point soon, I am definitely making the No-Knead Master Challah Dough from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, whether or not I use it to make SteamyKitchen's No-Knead Nutella and Roasted Hazelnut Challah variation. Wow.

It's been a busy/fascinating several days and I would love to write a longer entry, so maybe this afternoon while things are in the oven for an hour. OH, and I have to post the design of my RH postcard, as promised, so I'll try to do that, at least. :-) B'li shevua, as the yeshiva bochur says.

I would also like to write a minute-by-minute commentary on The Fountainheads' "Dip Your Apple", which is this Rosh Hashanah's viral equivalent to the Maccabeats' "Spin the Dreidel", but I'll content myself for now with posting the link and noting that (a) I foresee a sudden fad for white fedoras this HH season, (b) damn but those Israeli girls have luminous complexions, and (c) the Angry Birds moment is priceless. It's a very happy, uplifting, and visually pleasing 3 minutes. Go watch it if you get a chance.

Comments

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

If you hit on a particular good challah recipe, I'd love to see it. My homemade challah has only been good, not great. (Always makes great french toast, though.)

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Nutella challah.

How good a wife do I have to be to get you to make this for me? I will be the bestest wife ever. I can wife like no one's ever wifed before.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

We can negotiate when you get home, my magical baking fairy.

[bluepapercup]

I can wife like no one's ever wifed before.

I hope one day to be able to use this sentence!

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

I am going to make that clafoutis tonight! Thanks!

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Yay! I made it once or twice before, some years ago, and liked it tremendously.

L'shana tovah!

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

That video is indeed awesome. I just included it in my email to the Koleinu alumni board.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

I'm not hooked on the no-knead series, but I suspect any challah recipe could be turned into a nutella and roasted hazelnut challah. And that is a dangerous thought.

l'shana tovah!

[bluepapercup]

That clafoutis sounds incredible. I want to experiment and see how much I could reduce the sugar before they were too eggy tasting.

[muffyjo]

Nutella and Challah? Happy New Year, to you too!!!!! Oh happiness, I think I have a recipe to make! Thank you!

[gmpe.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the video link. It was just what the kids and I needed this afternoon when their dad got called off for a while. Thank you for the sweetness of kids smiling in my lap. Even better than apples and honey. :)
L'shanah tovah u'metukah.

[dragonfriek.livejournal.com]

I made the no-knead challah this weekend. It was delicious! A little dry, but I think I overbaked it. It turns very brown very quickly, probably thanks to the honey, so it's kind of hard to tell when it's done. Thank you for this recipe, though-- I'll definitely be doing this again.