BANANA CLAFOUTIS

Some time ago, I had written a post about an "Apricot Clafoutis" recipe (link here) that came from "The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion" cookbook. This time, I'm again going to speak about their clafoutis, but with another fruit combination...

I must admit that clafoutis is a very useful speciality that can be prepared in a multitude of ways, from scrap, and which holds a very important place in my everyday cuisine. Whether it be made as a savory dish or as a dessert, it is always delicious, fastly prepared and very satisfying as well as nourishing!

Whenever I don't know what to eat for supper and dont have much time to prepare anything big, I mostly choose to bake a clafoutis with whichever fruit I find in my kitchen. It never fails to be a real success as generally, nothing is left of it.

I particularly like this "The KIng Arthur Flour" (see their great site) recipe, because it is quite light, has a wonderful texture and a fine taste! It is smooth, very exotic and different from the nonetheless fine, but common clafoutis made with either cherries, berries, apricots or apples)...

I have to confess that I don't always like bananas in certain desserts, but thanks to the sour tinge of the lemon juice, this clafoutis just perfect!

~ Banana Clafoutis ~
Recipe by "The King Arthur Flour" and adapted by myself.

Ingredients:
3-4 Bananas (not too ripe), sliced
1 Lemon, juiced
1/4 Tsp Ground cinnamon
2 Tbs Light brown sugar
For the batter:
3/4 Cup (~85g) Plain white flour (unbleached all-purpose flour)
1/3 Cup (~67g) Castor sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
3 Large eggs (~50g)
1 1/4 Cups (~285g) Milk
3/4 Tsp Vanilla extract
A few drops of lemon extract or the grated rind of one lemon

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Thouroughly butter a 22-25cm (10 inches) round pan or ovenproof skillet.
3. Mix together the sliced bananas, the lemon juice, the cinnamon and brown sugar, then arrange the mixture on the bottom of the pan.
4. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.
5. In a separate small bowl or large mixing cup, combine the eggs, milk and vanilla/almond extract.
6. Beat until thouroughly combined, then whisk into the flour mixture, smoothing ou the lumps.
7. Pour the batter over the fruit in the prepared baking pan.
8. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
9. Serve.

Remarks:
Instead of using bananas, you can easily replace them by any fruit of your choice and take away the lemon juice from the recipe (unless the fruit used is very sweet and it's taste needs to be woken up!).
If you desire, you ca reduce the quantity of sugar in the batter (for ex.: 50g instead of 67g).
Regarding this Clafoutis' flavor, you can also use orange rind instead of lemon rind/extract if you wish to add a more "exotic" touch to the recipe.

Serving suggestions:
Eat warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream or mascarpone and why not accompany it by a scoop of ice cream.