Evening Productivity and Pear Strawberry Clafoutis

In the evenings, one of two things happens... always. I arrive home from work and if I am feeling tired will sit down for a bit. Then Reggie arrives home and we work our way through some kind of dinner. And then here is the kicker... If I sit back down to watch the news or part of a show - I don't get up until bedtime! However, if I wash all the dishes and tidy a few things after supper it always seems I have more energy. Last night was a full of energy night. I cleaned up dinner, and then decided to make a dessert that had been sitting in the back of my mind for a while, and then finally went through two large piles of maternity clothes that people have lent me. And then I cleaned up from the dessert making. I was feeling awfully productive. I suppose sometimes I need those nights, where I just sit there and do nothing. But I always feel better about  things when I've at least tidied up the dishes and the kitchen.

And now I'm sure you're wondering, what the heck is a clafoutis! Well I found out, after baking it, that it is a french dessert traditionally made with fresh cherries. Well I had some pears that were on their way out, and lots of berries in the freezer so I decided to try it with the fruit I had on hand.

3 pears, cored and quartered
2 cups of strawberries
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
4 eggs, and 2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp confectioners sugar
(you are supposed to sprinkle 3 tbsp of flavoured alcohol, kirsch/amaretto, but I omitted)

 

Grease the side and bottom of a 2 quart baking dish, then sprinkle with sugar and turn the dish to coat side and bottom with sugar. Place the fruit evenly across the bottom, layer evenly.

Sift flour and salt together to aerate. Make a well in the center of the flour with your fingers. Pour the milk and the cream into the well at the same time. Whisk the cream, drawing in the flour, until smooth and all the lumps are gone.

 Add the eggs, egg yolks and sugar and continue whisking to make a smooth batter. Preheat oven to 350degreesF, just before baking ladle the batter over the fruit until it is just covered. Bake the Clafoutis 30-35 minutes. It will be baked when it is puffed up, golden brown and begins to pull away from the sides of the dish. Just before serving sprinkle with confectioners sugar and serve warm with whipped cream - if you like. We quite enjoyed it just on it's own!

This recipe adapted from my favourite cookbook: Cook Step by Step ed. Lucy Bannell. And another version (much more professional looking I might add) can be found here, made by one of my favourite bloggers! It is pretty simple, and even if it doesn't puff up like it is supposed to, it still tastes lovely!

Tonight was less productive for me. I now have 6 bags of baby clothes/things to go through but I'm going to save that for a different day. And I'm going to take my productivity one day at a time!

There is still time to link up a positivity post to yesterdays post, if you're interested! I hope you had a lovely Tuesday :)
xox