Plum Clafoutis

Last summer, my best friend and I found ourselves stomping around NYC. We were lucky enough to find a floor to sleep on which was right around the corner from the Sweet Melissa Patisserie. Oh, the scones! Everything that we ate there was delicious (and beautiful.) Luckily, for those of us far away from Brooklyn, Melissa Murphy has written a book. If you have a baker in your life, and you’re looking for an obscure book to give as a gift, try this one. Every recipe that I have made from it, and I am indeed working my way through the chapters, from ‘Dessert for Breakfast’ to ‘Sunday Supper’s Grand Finale,’ has been easy to put together and decadent.

Plums abound here. We had beautiful, full bags yesterday at the ferry farm stand and I know many farmers, including Dropstone Farms, are selling them down at the Saturday farmers’ market. Our tree produced a lot this year and I made this dessert, adapted from the Sweet Melissa book, with the last of them. It’s one of those desserts that you can make on a whim. It takes only a few minutes to put together. You can serve it warm or cold, and it tastes very different, depending on your choice.

3 tbls. butter
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
about 10 small plums, cut into eighths (or as many will fill the bottom of your skillet)

6 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. AP
3/4 c. cream
3/4 c. whole milk
1/2 tsp. almond extract

3 tbls. sliced almonds
confectioners’ sugar (optional for finishing)

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Melt butter. Whisk in the sugar and cinnamon and cook for about a minute. Add plums and cook until the skins begin to loosen, about 4 minutes.
3. In  a large measuring cup, whisk eggs, sugar, AP, cream, milk and extract.
4. Remove the plums from the heat. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet, beginning from the outer edge and pouring into the center. Stir gently. (You should have some lovely purple swirls.)
5. Sprinkle almonds around the outside edge.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.