I am spending the Easter weekend in Prince Albert and have seen boxes of what must the last of sweet Adams figs in all the shops. Fig season is nearly over so this Fig and Brown Butter Clafoutis is an apt farewell till these luscious fruit come around again.

Clafoutis is a baked French dessert of fruit baked in a thick flan-like batter. Almost a rich sweet omelette. The clafoutis is dusted with caster or icing sugar and served lukewarm, sometimes with cream or a dollop of creme fraiche would be as good. The traditional recipe is with black cherries but you can use many other fruits that are in season at the time. You could use red cherries, plums, apples, pears, blueberries, blackberries or as in this recipe, figs. It has to be noted that if you use any fruit other than cherries it is called a flaugnarde.

I used a Raymond Blanc recipe and loved the idea of the brown butter – called a beurre noisette – added to the batter. Be careful not to allow the butter to burn or it will become bitter and carcinogenic. Raymond’s tip is that you bake the clafoutis as you start your meal. That way the Fig and Brown Butter Clafoutis will be the right temperature when you eat it. It should be warm and not hot. To that, I can add it is pretty good cold too.

It really is a lovely dessert that is quick and easy to make. Use a medium sized shallow dish to bake the clafoutis in as you want the fruit to show. You can also amp up the flavour by steeping the fruit in some liquour and sugar to macerate for about 2 hours and pouring the liquid in the bottom of the dish before baking.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe for Fig and Brown Butter Clafoutis. Share it with me by tagging @heinstirred and using the hashtag #heinstirred

Fig and Brown Butter Clafoutis

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Ingredients

20 g butter plus extra for greasing
2 large eggs
3 tbsp caster sugar plus extra for sprinkling
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 heaped tbsp flour
50 g 60ml full cream milk
75 g 90ml whipping cream
good pinch of sea salt
8 large ripe figs halved

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
Grease a shallow baking dish with butter and sprinkle with sugar
Shake the sugar around the dish so that it is evenly coated, then tip out any excess
For the batter, heat the butter in a small pan until it turns a pale hazelnut colour
Do not allow the butter to burn as it will become bitter
Remove the pan from the heat and set aside in a warm place
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until creamy
Add the flour, whisk until smooth, then slowly incorporate the milk, cream, salt and brown butter
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish
Place the figs cut side up in the batter
Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is slightly domed and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
To finish, sprinkle with caster sugar and serve warm with the leftover cream softly whipped