by Julia Child
⅛ tsp salt ½ cup flour (scooped and leveled)
An electric blender
Place the ingredients at left in your blender jar in the order in which they are listed. Cover and blend at top speed for 1 minute.
A 7- to 8-cup lightly buttered, fireproof baking dish or pyrex pie plate about 1½ inches deep
An asbestos mat, if necessary
⅓ cup granulated sugar
Pour a ¼-inch layer of batter in the baking dish or pie plate. Set over moderate heat for a minute or two until a film of batter has set in the bottom of the dish. Remove from heat. Spread the cherries over the batter and sprinkle on the sugar. Pour on the rest of the batter and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.
Powdered sugar in a shaker
Place in middle position of preheated oven and bake for about an hour. The clafouti is done when it has puffed and browned, and a needle or knife plunged into its center comes out clean. Sprinkle top of clafouti with powdered sugar just before bringing it to the table. (The clafouti need not be served hot, but should still be warm. It will sink down slightly as it cools.)
VARIATIONS
The clafouti in the preceding master recipe is the simple and classic version. Here are some variations:
Clafouti à la Liqueur
[Cherry Flan with Liqueur]
Ingredients for the preceding clafouti
¼ cup kirsch or cognac
⅓ cup granulated sugar
Follow the master recipe but first let the cherries stand for 1 hour in the kirsch or cognac and sugar. Substitute this liquid for part of the milk called for in the batter; omit the ⅓ sugar near the end of the recipe.
Clafouti aux Poires
[Pear Flan]
Ingredients for the master clafouti with changes as indicated
3 cups peeled, cored, and sliced ripe pears (1¼ to 1½ lbs. pears)
¼ cup sweet white wine, kirsch, or cognac
⅓ cup granulated sugar
Follow the master recipe with these changes: Substitute pears for cherries, and let stand for 1 hour in wine, kirsch, or cognac and sugar. Substitute this liquid for part of the milk called for in the batter; omit the ⅓ cup of sugar near the end of the recipe.
Clafouti aux Pruneaux
[Plum Flan]
Ingredients for the master clafouti with changes as indicated
1 lb. firm, ripe plums
Boiling water
¼ cup orange liqueur, kirsch, or cognac
⅓ cup sugar
Follow the master recipe with these changes: Substitute plums for cherries, and drop in boiling water for exactly 10 seconds. Peel. Slice them or leave whole. Let stand with liqueur, kirsch, or cognac and sugar for 1 hour. Substitute this liquid for part of the milk called for in the batter; omit the ⅓ cup sugar near the end of the recipe.
Clafouti aux Pommes
[Apple Flan]
Ingredients for the master clafouti with changes as indicated
About 1¼ lbs. crisp eating or cooking apples
3 to 4 Tb butter
An enameled skillet
¼ cup Calvados (apple brandy), dark rum, or cognac
⅛ tsp cinnamon
⅓ cup sugar
Follow the master recipe with these changes: Substitute apples for cherries; peel, core, and cut them into lengthwise slices ¼ inch thick. You should have about 3 cups. Sauté to brown very lightly in hot butter, then let stand in the skillet for ½ hour with the brandy or rum, cinnamon, and sugar. Substitute this liquid for part of the milk called for in the batter; omit the ⅓ cup sugar near the end of the recipe.
Clafouti aux Mûres
Clafouti aux Myrtilles
[Blackberry or Blueberry Flan]
Ingredients for the master clafouti or the variation following it with changes as indicated
3 cups (about 1¼ lbs.) stemmed and washed blackberries or blueberries
Follow the master recipe or the variation after it with these changes: Substitute berries for cherries and, because berries are very juicy, increase the flour for your batter from ⅔ to 1¼ cups.
Clafouti à la Bourdaloue
[Cherry or Pear Flan with Almonds]
Ingredients for either of the 2 cherry flans, or for the pear flan
½ cup blanched almonds (can be bought in a can)
1 tsp almond extract
Follow the master recipe for cherry flan, or the variation after it, or the recipe for pear flan, but purée the almonds in the blender with the milk called for in your batter. Add the almond extract, and proceed with the recipe.
BABAS AND SAVARINS
Babas et Savarins
Babas and savarins always seem to delight guests, and they are not difficult to make if you have any feeling at all for doughs and baking. They may be cooked a day or two ahead. They freeze perfectly; all you need to do to make them ready to imbibe their syrup is to pop them from the freezer into a 300-degree oven, to warm through for about 5 minutes.
Whenever you are working with yeast doughs, do so in a warm place free from drafts; a sudden chill can cause the dough to fall. So that the dough will rise in one to two hours, cover it with a damp towel and set it where the temperature remains between 80 and 100 degrees. If you can control the heat and have a thermometer, put it in a plate-warming oven, or in a baking oven, heating briefly every once in a while to maintain the correct temperature. Or place the covered bowl on a pillow over the radiator. If you allow the dough to rise too much, or too long, or at too warm a temperature, it will develop a taste of overfermented yeast.
PTE À BABA ET BABAS
[Baba Paste and Babas]
For about 12 babas
Mixing the paste
4 Tb butter
Melt the butter, and let it cool to tepid while you are preparing the other ingredients.
1 Tb dry active yeast
3 Tb tepid water
A 3-quart mixing bowl
A wire whip
2 Tb granulated sugar
⅛ tsp salt
2“large” eggs
Blend the yeast and water in the bowl with a wire whip and let stand until yeast has dissolved completely. Beat in the sugar, salt, and eggs.
1⅓ cups flour (scooped and leveled)
A wooden spoon
(Be sure to measure your flour correctly to get a soft pliable dough.) Mix the flour and the cool melted butter into the yeast with a wooden spoon.
Kneading the paste
Then with the fingers of one hand held together and slightly cupped, knead the dough by lifting it, slapping it, and pulling it vigorously against the sides of the bowl for about 5 minutes. It will be very sticky at first, but will gradually detach itself from the bowl and from your hand. It has been worked to sufficient elasticity and body when you can grasp it in both hands, pull it to a length of 10 to 12 inches, and give it a full twist without breaking it. (NOTE: If you are doubling the recipe, you will have to remove the dough from the bowl and knead it by pulling and slapping it between your hands, like taffy.)
Preliminary rising in a bowl
1 tsp flour
Form it into a ball in the bottom of the bowl. Cut a cross an inch deep on top and sprinkle the ball with the flour. Cover the bowl with several thicknesses of damp towel and let it rise in a warm place, 80 to 100 degrees, for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in bulk.
Again with the cupped fingers of one hand, gently deflate the dough by gathering it from the sides of the bowl to the center.
Final rising in molds
1 Tb softened butter
12 baba, popover, or muffin cups or muffin tins, about
2 inches deep and 2 inches in diameter
Butter inside of cups. Lightly break off about a tablespoon of dough, enough to fill a third of a cup, and press it lightly into the bottom of the cup. Do not bother to even the top of the dough as it will smooth out as it rises.
Cylindrical Baba Mold, 2 Inches Deep and 2 Inches in Diameter
&nbs
p; Place the cups, uncovered, again in a warm place and allow to rise 1 to 2 hours more, or until the dough is ¼ inch over the rim of the cups.
Baking
As soon as the dough has risen this second time—and do not delay or it may collapse—bake in the upper third of a preheated, 375-degree oven for about 15 minutes. The babas should be nicely browned, and slightly shrunk from the sides of the cups. Unmold them onto a cake rack.
Babas au Rhum
[Rum Babas]
Both the babas and the rum syrup should be lukewarm but not hot before this operation begins. If the babas are cold, heat them briefly in the oven; warm the syrup if necessary, (NOTE: Some authorities use a stronger sugar syrup, 1½ cups of sugar to 2 of water. We prefer the lighter syrup given here.)
For 12 babas
The sugar syrup
2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
A 1-quart saucepan
½ cup dark rum, more if needed (Jamaican rum is recommended)
Bring the water and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. When the sugar syrup has cooled to lukewarm, stir in the rum; you may add a few tablespoons more if you feel it necessary.
The babas imbibe the syrup
12 barely warm cooked babas, the preceding recipe
A dish 2 inches deep and just large enough to hold the babas easily
A skewer, trussing needle or sharp-pronged fork
Optional: a bulb baster
A cake rack set over a tray
Arrange the barely warm babas in the dish, their puffed tops up. Prick tops in several places, pour the lukewarm syrup over them, and let stand for ½ hour, basting frequently with syrup. They should imbibe enough syrup so they are moist and spongy but still hold their shape. Drain on rack for ½ hour.
TO SERVE
Babas au Rhum, Classique
[Rum Babas]
2 Tb dark rum
A pastry brush
½ cup apricot glaze
12 glacéed cherries
A serving dish or frilled paper cups
After the babas have drained, sprinkle the top of each with a few drops of rum. Paint them with the apricot glaze, and place a cherry on top of each. Arrange in a serving dish or in paper cups.
Babas aux Fruits
[Rum Babas with Fruit]
A serving dish
3 to 4 cups blueberries or fresh strawberries
Leftover baba syrup
2 to 3 cups crème Chantilly, (lightly whipped cream) flavored with rum and powdered sugar
Arrange the babas in the serving dish. Surround them with the berries which have stood for 10 to 15 minutes in leftover baba syrup. Pass the cream separately.
SAVARIN
[Savarin]
Large Savarin or Ring Mold, 7 to 9 Inches in Diameter. Small Savarin Mold, 2¼ to 4 Inches in Diameter
The savarin uses the same paste or dough as the baba, but is baked in a ring mold, and its sugar syrup is flavored with kirsch rather than rum. The center is then filled with a cream or with fruits macerated in liqueur.
For 6 people
Filling the mold
1 Tb softened butter
A 4- to 5-cup ring mold 2 inches deep
The master recipe for baba paste
Butter the ring mold. Make the baba paste as directed and let it rise in its bowl until doubled in bulk. Deflate it by pressing it rapidly in several places with the cupped fingers of one hand. Then break off a 2-tablespoon bit of the paste and press lightly into the bottom of the mold. Continue rapidly with the rest of the paste. The mold will be from a third to a half filled. Do not bother to smooth the surface of the paste; it will even out as it rises. Place uncovered in a warm place, 80 to 100 degrees, for 1 to 2 hours or until the paste has risen to fill the mold. Proceed at once to the following step.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees in time for this step.
Baking the savarin
Aluminum foil
A cake rack
Insert a cylinder of aluminum foil through the hole in the center of the mold; this will help the savarin rise evenly in the oven. Place in the middle level of the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. If top of savarin browns too much during baking, cover lightly with aluminum foil. The savarin is done when it is toasty brown and has begun to shrink a little from the sides of the mold. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Reverse rack over mold, reverse the two, remove the mold. When savarin has cooled to tepid, proceed to the following step.
() It may be baked a day or two in advance, then heated briefly to tepid in a 300-degree oven.
The savarin imbibes the syrup
2 cups sugar syrup (rum baba recipe), but flavored with ½ cup kirsch rather than rum
A skewer, trussing needle, or sharp-pronged fork
A dish 2 inches deep and just large enough to hold the savarin easily
A bulb baster
A cake rack
A tray
While the savarin is baking, make the same sugar syrup as that for the babas, but perfume it with kirsch rather than rum. Let it cool to tepid. Prick the puffed side of the barely warm savarin and place it puffed-side down in the dish. Pour the tepid syrup over it and allow to stand for ½ hour, basting frequently with the syrup. The savarin should be moist and spongy, but still hold its shape. Then tilt the dish and pour out the remaining syrup (which may be reserved for flavoring fruits). Turn the rack upside down over the dish and reverse the dish onto the rack to unmold the savarin. Set rack on tray and let the savarin drain for about ½ hour.
A serving dish
The savarin is now resting puffed-side up on the rack; it is usually served puffed-side down. The safest way to get it from the rack to the serving dish is to turn the dish upside down over the savarin on the rack; then reverse the rack onto the dish.
1 Tb kirsch
Sprinkle the savarin with drops of kirsch before decorating and filling as directed in one of the following suggestions:
TO SERVE
Savarins are usually painted with a glaze into which are pressed designs of almonds and glacéed fruits, or fresh strawberries or raspberries. The center is filled with whipped cream, custard filling, or fruits. The following recipe gives the general procedure for glazing, decorating, and filling; other suggestions are listed after it.
Savarin Chantilly
[Savarin with Whipped Cream]
The preceding savarin
¾ cup apricot glaze
A pastry brush
6 to 8 glacéed cherries
A piece of angelica
8 to 12 blanched almonds
2 cups crème Chantilly (lightly whipped cream), flavored with powdered sugar and kirsch
Paint the savarin with a light coating of apricot glaze. Cut the cherries in half, and the angelica into small diamond shapes. Press the fruits and almonds over the savarin in a decorative design and paint a bit of glaze over them. Fill the center of the savarin with the cream just before serving.
OTHER FILLINGS
Instead of whipped cream, you may use a custard or fruit filling. In the case of fruit fillings, decorate glazed savarin with the fruits you are using rather than with almonds and glacéed fruits. Between 1½ and 2 cups of custard filling are sufficient. If you are using fruits, you will probably want more; fill the center of the savarin with them, and heap the rest around the outside. The fruits are usually flavored with 3 to 4 Tb kirsch for 3 to 4 cups fruit, and several tablespoons of sugar, if necessary (or use leftover imbibing syrup).
Frangipane, custard filling with almonds or macaroons, flavored with vanilla and kirsch
Crème Saint-Honoré, crème pâtissière with beaten egg whites, flavored with vanilla and kirsch
Macédoine de Fruits, a mixture of cut-up fruits, such as cherries, pears, apricots, pineapple, either fresh, poached in syrup as for the pèches cardinal, or canned. Let stand for ½ hour in kirsch, and sugar if necessary, before using.
Fresh strawberries or rasp
berries, which have stood for ½ hour with sugar and kirsch
Cherries, poached in red wine syrup, as for the cherry tart
VARIATION
Petits Savarins
[Small Savarins]
Small savarins are baked in the small molds illustrated at the beginning of the savarin recipe; they range in diameter from 2¼ inches for tea parties to 3 or 4 inches for individual dessert servings.
MOLDING, BAKING, AND SYRUPING
Proceed exactly as for the large savarin but omit the aluminum-foil funnel, and bake for only 10 to 15 minutes. Saturate them with kirsch-flavored syrup as directed for the large savarin. The proportions in the recipe will furnish about 12 small savarins 2¼ inches in diameter or about 6 savarins 3 inches in diameter.
TO SERVE
You may paint small savarins with apricot glaze, decorate with glacéed fruits cut into diamond shapes, and serve them as they are, or you may fill them. If you fill them and do not intend to serve them on dessert plates, it is best to set them on small rounds of baked sugar-crust dough. Paint the rounds first with the apricot glaze, then glaze and decorate the savarins. Use any of the fillings suggested for the large savarin in the preceding list.