Peach and Thyme Clafoutis

It’s stone fruit season, hell yeah!!!  Peaches are one of my all-time favorite fruits and this time of year I tend to put them in everything.  This week alone I’ve already planned some recipes sweet, savory and alcoholic: Old Fashioned Peach Pie, Grilled Peach and Carrot Salad with Carrot Top Mint Pesto and Boozy Peach Slush, to name a few.

Clafouti is traditionally made with cherries and I managed one in a few weeks back with some beauties from my buddy Pete’s CSA.  Yesterday, though, the peaches at the Los Feliz Farmer’s Market were sweet, juicy and on point, so that’s what I used.  This is a delicious custard dessert best served luke warm with a dusting of powdered sugar and some whipped cream or crème fraîche.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

¼ stick butter, room temperature

1 ¼ cup milk

¼ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

Splash brandy

Pinch salt

2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

½ cup AP flour

4 ripe peaches, sliced

¼ cup brown sugar

Whipped cream or crème fraîche, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter an 8-cup baking dish and set aside.

In a blender, add the milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, brandy, salt, thyme and flour.  Blend until smooth.  Pour a ¼ inch layer of the mixture into the prepared dish and bake for approximately 3-5 minutes to set the batter.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and spread the peaches evenly throughout.  Top with the brown sugar and pour the rest of the batter over the peaches.  Bake for until the clafouti has puffed up, is golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  This takes approximately 35-45 minutes.

Serve the clafoutis warm with a dollop of whipped cream or crème fraîche for added extravagance.