Gettin' Toasted: Raspberry Clafouti

Spring is just around the corner, and a delicious variety of berries are already available at the produce markets. So for this week's toaster oven dish, I'm preparing a dessert called a clafouti (kla-foo-TEE). Clafouti is a French puffy, cakey, pudding-like dessert traditionally made with cherries but is also very good with peaches, strawberries, or any fruit you like. Chef Eric Ripert features his version made with raspberries on his website, Aveceric. Watch this video to see how simple this yummy dish is to make.


Raspberry Clafouti
Serves 2

1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup sugar + more for ramekin
1 large egg
6 tablespoons half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup fresh raspberries
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Heat toaster oven to 400°F. Butter two 3 ½ - inch ramekins and dust with sugar. Whisk egg until frothy and add sugar, half and half and vanilla extract; mix to combine. Add the all purpose flour and whisk very well. Divide the raspberries into the ramekins and pour the batter over the raspberries. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until golden brown and the middle is set.
Serve with a scoop of ice cream. (optional) I really liked this dessert. However, because my ramekins are not the size specified in the recipe, I will have to modify it the next time to make it perfect. Be sure the clafouti is baked until it is lightly browned and a knife comes out clean from the center. I think the next time I will pour a small amount of batter into the bottom and bake it for a few minutes before adding the berries amd the remainder of the batter. I love the faint taste of the sugar that the ramekins are dusted with. Another idea is to sprinkle with powdered sugar after removing it from the oven. There are so many ways to make clafouti to suit anyones taste. You can also find recipes for 6-8 servings for larger groups. This would be a perfect dish to serve for a brunch.

I hope that if you decide to try this recipe, you'll come back and let me know what you thought. This is a dish that I will experiment with in many different ways and is another great example of how to get the most out of your toaster oven. Do you have a favorite dish that you make in your toaster oven?