It’s le 14 juillet (Bastille Day for those of you who are not en France!). So what better way to celebrate French Fridays than with a quintessentially (Southwest) French dessert – with Armagnac and prunes! Our little rental home (maison de la fontaine) is situated in the heart of prune country (you might have heard of les pruneaux d’Agen) and just a little bit outside true Armagnac country (though definitely within reach!) and these are two ingredients you’ll see over and over again (one of our favourite desserts at the Nérac night market is a prune and Armagnac ice cream 🙂 Mmmm…
Clafoutis isn’t a dish from Southwest France per se (it’s more associated with the Limousin region) but a version of it is. It’s called Millassous and it’s made with both flour and a touch of finely ground cornmeal. According to Kate Hill who first introduced me to this variation, this is clafoutis, Gascon-style and, with a touch of Armagnac I thought it would be the perfect dish to 1. celebrate “my” region, 2. celebrate le 14 juillet and 3. prepare me for tomorrow’s Winophiles Twitter chat which is all about Southwest France and the wines from this region! Tomorrow, I’ll be posting an Armagnac primer right here so keep a look out for that! (Edited to add: Armagnac: A Primer).
This recipe is for two tiny clafoutis and it comes together really easily – no special equipment required. The perfect way to satisfy your craving for something from the Southwest!
- 75g pitted prunes (approx. 8 large)
- 3 tablespoons Armagnac
- 1 large egg
- 120 mL (1/2 cup) milk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla essence
- 1½ tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1½ tablespoons fine cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- icing sugar, for dusting
- Roughly chop the prunes and soak them in the Armagnac for approximately 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Place the ramekins on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Whisk the egg, milk and vanilla together until combined.
- Add the flour, cornmeal and sugar and whisk until smooth.
- Strain the prunes and place them in the ramekins.
- Pour the custard over the prunes.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the custard is puffed and just set on top.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
- Sprinkle with a little icing sugar to serve.
Note that the prep time includes soaking the prunes in Armagnac.
Clafoutis or Millassous isn’t much to look at but this version got an enthusiastic two thumbs up from my neighbour here in Nérac who is a fan of all things Armagnac!
Happy (French) Friday! Bonne Fête Nationale! Bon weekend!
Take a look at all the discoveries made by our Winophiles group!
- Jill at L’occasion shares Périgord Wines: Bergerac and Duras
- Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares Southern France at a Midwest BBQ
- Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Cam shares Pistachio-Armagnac Sabayon with Strawberries and Meringues
- Michelle from Rockin Red Blog shares #Winophiles Showdown: Madiran vs Applegate Valley
- Rob from Odd Bacchus shares Bergerac: Underappreciated Wines & Controversial Cuisine
- Martin from Enofylz shares Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng and Arrufiac? Oh My!
- Olivier from In Taste Buds We Trust shares If it makes you happy…
- Nicole from Somm’s Table shares Cooking to the Wine: Paul Bertrand Crocus Malbec de Cahors with Lavender-Herb Ribeye and Grilled Veggies
- Lynn from Savor the Harvest shares Basque-ing in the Sud-Ouest: Wines of Irouléguy
- Lauren from The Swirling Dervish shares Toast #TDF2017 with Wines from the Côtes de Gascogne
- Gwen from Wine Predator shares Finding and Pairing Southwest France Wine Cheese & Spirits for French
#Winophiles - Mardi from eat.live.travel.write. shares two posts (!) Clafoutis, Southwest France style and Armagnac: A Primer
- Jeff from Food Wine Click! shares Exploring Madiran with Vignobles Brumont
Join our chat on Saturday July 15th 2017 at 10-11am CDT (11am EDT, 8am PDT, and 1700 hours in France)! See what we think of Southwest France, and tell us about your experiences with the wine, food, or travel in the region! Simply log into Twitter and search for the #winophiles tag, and you’re in!
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Looks delicious! I must try. 🙂
It’s so good!
Great idea to use a dish that included the Armagnac. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Thanks, it gives it a nice kick!
Haven’t made a clafoutis for a few years – must give this one a try out Mardi. AND it gives me an excuse to visit the bottle-o to buy Armagnac- hopefully not too upmarket for Mount Isa 😀
I don’t think I’ve ever had clafoutis! Love the recipe! Perhaps a chance to try this and buy a bottle of Armagnac! Thanks for the wonderful post!
Indeed! It’s a lovely flavour with the prunes!
This looks quite delicious! Love the Armagnac addition in the Clafoutis.
It works really well!
After Neil’s post, I went and purchased my first bottle of Armagnac. Now I guess I’ll need to make some Clafoutis. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Thanks to both you and Neil for participating, you’re welcome to become regulars if you’d like!
Yes, you totally need to make some clafoutis 🙂
Simple and delicious – a culinary postcard from South West France! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us; so glad you joined the #winophiles this month. Hope to see you in August!
Thanks for having us – and let me know if you try the recipe!
I have a love affair going on with les pruneaux d’Agen, think clafoutis needs more respect, and am on a new adventure to explore Armagnac. Your combining the three is brilliant, and I imagine quite delicious. Thanks for sharing it, happy you joined the #winophiles ;-D
Yes it’s a really great combo that works well 🙂 We were thrilled to join #winophiles this month and look forward to joining again soon!