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Baking Expert
Catherine Christiansen
French Fruit Classics
Frangipane Tart
and
Chocolate Cherry Clafoutis
Clafouti and Frangipane. So different, yet so alike in the way they frame fresh baked fruit, showcasing bright cherries or tender pears so they shimmer and shine. Clafouti is the best of all possible worlds—cake, custard and fruit tart all rolled into one. Frangipane offers a crumbly sweet tart shell, melting almond filling and sparkling, soft pears. Don’t try to decide, it’s probably best to try them both.
I’ve glammed up the classic clafouti recipe, adding cocoa, sweet cherries and a scattering of bittersweet chocolate curls. Picture this; deep, dark cocoa custard surrounding ruby-like cherries and a rich flash of whipped cream. And the taste? Warm, chocolaty, creamy, cherry-filled delight. The same recipe works well omitting the cocoa and substituting halved apricots or plums in the summer or macerated prunes in the winter.
The frangipane recipe is a straight up recette française—why make changes when autumn is perfectly summoned in one simple dish? Poach the pears in advance if you wish— they can hang out in the fridge up to four days. Pre-poaching the pears makes tart assembly a snap, especially when almond paste takes the place of toasted ground almonds. For a perfect finish, brush the baked tart with a bit of melted apricot jam to really play up the shimmering pears. And once you master the traditional, variations on frangipane include pistachio or hazelnuts rather than almonds, and apples or peaches standing in for the pears.
Mmmm. Autumn baking. Time for coming inside, warming up and filling the house with the smells of warm, sweet spice. I am so in.
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