Recipe: Apricot-almond clafoutis

Note: After years of trying to make a good clafoutis, Russ Parsons finally figured out a way to get the usually tough pancake-like crust to be more like the ideal he imagined when he first saw a picture of clafoutis, something tender and almost custard-like, puffed and brown and dotted with melting fruit. He experimented with several recipes from several respected cookbook authors, including Julia Chila, Patricia Wells and Richard Olney, then took the best of those, fiddled some more and came up with his own recipe. Several tasters in The Times Test Kitchen agreed that it was the best clafoutis they had eaten. The recipe calls for summer apricots but will work well with almost any seasonal fruit that can go into a pie.

Sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup flour

8 apricots, about, cut in half and pitted

1/3 cup slivered almonds

Place 1/4 cup sugar, eggs, cream, milk and almond extract in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Sift flour over mixture and pulse just to mix. Set batter aside to stand 10 minutes.

Arrange apricots, cut-side down, in heavily buttered and sugared 9-inch glass pie plate. When batter has rested, pour batter over apricots. Sprinkle with almonds and 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees until puffed and brown, about 45 minutes. Serve immediately.Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each of 6 servings contains about:290 calories; 59 mg sodium; 142 mg cholesterol; 17 grams fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams protein; 0.69 gram fiber.