The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (349 page)

SERVES 6

The test kitchen prefers a crisp made with Bartlett pears, but Bosc pears can also be used. The pears should be ripe but firm, which means the flesh at the base of the stem should give slightly when gently pressed with a finger. Bartlett pears will turn from green to greenish-yellow when ripe. Although almost any unsalted nut may be used in the topping, we prefer almonds or pecans. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

TOPPING

FILLING

1.
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

2. FOR THE TOPPING:
Process nuts, flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in food processor until nuts are finely chopped, about 9 pulses. Drizzle butter over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles crumbly wet sand, about 5 pulses, scraping down bowl halfway through. Set aside.

3. FOR THE FILLING:
Whisk sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt together in large bowl. Gently toss pears with sugar mixture and transfer to 8-inch square baking dish.

4.
Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks. Transfer baking dish to prepared baking sheet. Bake until fruit is bubbling around edges and topping is deep golden brown, about 30 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking dish to wire rack and let cool until warm, about 15 minutes; serve.

Reduce nuts to ¹⁄
₂
cup and increase butter to 6 tablespoons. After incorporating butter into flour mixture in step 2, add ¹⁄
₂
cup old-fashioned rolled oats to food processor and process until evenly incorporated, about 3 pulses.

Use almonds for nuts and replace cinnamon and nutmeg with ³⁄
₄
teaspoon ground ginger. Process 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped crystallized ginger with nuts and flour in step 2. Reduce lemon juice to 1 teaspoon and add 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger to sugar-cornstarch mixture in step 3.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Clafouti is a homey French dessert of fresh fruit, usually cherries, baked in a creamy and light custard. Though it sounds simple—just fruit and batter—it can be notoriously finicky, suffering from both textural problems and flavor issues. We wanted a perfectly balanced clafouti in which the fruity, tangy cherries shared the stage with the creamy, lightly sweetened, tender custard. We quickly determined that the simple flavors of this dish made using fresh fruit a must. A bit of vanilla and amaretto liqueur boosted the cherry flavor nicely. When it came to the custard, many recipes called for flour as the binder, but we found that flour produced a thicker clafouti than we liked. Instead, we used 2 tablespoons cornstarch, which was just enough to bind the custard without weighing it down. Milk gave us a custard that was too lean but a good amount of heavy cream provided a pleasing richness. Eggs give clafouti structure; two eggs plus two yolks resulted in a custard that was firm-textured, yet not rubbery, and rich but not eggy. Though a cast-iron pan is the norm for baking clafouti, we found a more accessible option in a 9-inch pie plate.

SERVES 6 TO 8

Fresh cherries are essential to the fresh flavor and texture of this dish; do not substitute jarred, canned, or frozen cherries.

1.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in large bowl. Add cream, eggs, egg yolks, amaretto, and vanilla and whisk until smooth and thoroughly combined.

2.
Arrange cherries in single layer in 9-inch pie plate and pour cream mixture over top. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating dish halfway through baking.

3.
Let clafouti cool until custard has set up, about 15 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve.

For a nice presentation, fan the plum slices out attractively over the bottom of the dish before pouring in the custard.

Substitute 2 plums, halved, pitted, and cut into ¹⁄
₄
-inch wedges, for cherries and 1 tablespoon cognac for amaretto.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

The classic blueberry buckle can be regarded as a streusel-topped blueberry coffee cake, but that sells it short—the substance of blueberry buckle should be the blueberries. We wanted to keep the emphasis on the berries yet also keep the berry-to-cake ratio in balance so the moisture released from the fruit during baking wouldn’t create a soggy cake. We used an ample amount of blueberries—4 cups—to keep them as the headliner, then built more structure into the batter to support them. In the end, the batter resembled a cookie dough more than a cake batter. We used all-purpose flour, eliminated the dairy, and added baking powder to supplement the natural leavening provided by creamed butter and sugar. For a flavorful, crisp yet crumbly streusel, we turned to a combination of light brown and granulated sugars, softened butter, and cinnamon.

SERVES 8

The batter will be extremely thick and heavy, and some effort will be required to spread it into the prepared pan. Be sure to use a cake pan with at least 2-inch-high sides. This buckle is best made with fresh blueberries, not frozen ones, which are too moist. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

STREUSEL

CAKE

1. FOR THE STREUSEL:
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, combine flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt on low speed until well combined and no large brown sugar lumps remain, about 45 seconds. Add butter; beat on low speed until mixture resembles wet sand and no large butter pieces remain, about 2¹⁄
₂
minutes. Transfer to bowl; set aside.

2. FOR THE CAKE:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan, line bottom with parchment paper, grease parchment, then flour pan.

3.
Whisk flour and baking powder together in bowl; set aside. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, sugar, salt, and zest on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds. With mixer on medium speed, add eggs 1 at a time; beat until partially incorporated, scrape down bowl, and continue to beat until fully incorporated (mixture will appear broken). With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture; beat until flour is almost fully incorporated, about 20 seconds. Stir batter with rubber spatula, scraping bowl, until no flour pockets remain and batter is homogeneous; batter will be very heavy and thick. Gently fold in blueberries until evenly distributed.

4.
Transfer batter to prepared pan. Spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth surface. Squeeze portion of streusel in hand to form large cohesive clump; break up clump with fingers and sprinkle streusel evenly over batter. Repeat with remaining streusel. Bake until cake is deep golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool, 15 to 20 minutes (cake will fall slightly as it cools).

5.
Run paring knife around edges to loosen. Invert cake, then peel off and discard parchment. Invert cake onto serving platter. Let cool at least 1 hour. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature. (Buckle can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days.)

Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners. In step 4, transfer batter to prepared tin; spread batter evenly to cup edges and smooth surface. (Batter will reach top of liners.) Reduce baking time to 35 minutes. Let buckles cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from tin and let cool, at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.