Ah wintery weather... how I love you and hate you at the same time. I love snuggling in my quilt and not having to sleep with the covers off in the stifling heat (resulting in a rude awakening with the sight of the man in his undies). I love your hearty meals and hot desserts and wearing chic stockings, boots and gloves. And oh my gosh, hot showers... heaven. But I hate how you batter me outdoors and make little ol' me clutch desperately to The Captain or burly male friends for warmth and protection from your icy wind and frosty air.
Finally, I hate how you make the beautiful natural daylight go away so early that I have to resort to taking blog photos at night in my horribly yellow-hued dining room. In saying that, a big cheers to my tripod and the custom white balance function on my camera - without a doubt, my two best friends for indoor night photography!
The best winter therapy for me are bouts of late night baking and prime midnight snackage on something warm and fresh out of the oven (also good for extra heating ammo). On this particularly cold night I had a craving for chocolate (surprise, surprise) but I also remembered the bag of plums in the fridge that I bought last week. An odd and impulsive purchase I might add, since I don't eat stone fruit much. Luckily I bought them firm and a little unripe and stuck them straight into the fridge so they don't soften too much. One of my fave late night staples is the 'clafoutis' - ridiculously easy to do and no need for the big toys or strenous arm action.
This differs slightly to the non-chocolate version of the flognarde. This one bakes into something that's densely chocolately in some parts and light and airy a la soufflé in others. Also be sure to pick plums that aren't overly ripe and take care not to overcook the fruit so it retains a bite to it. The joy in this is the fruit is completely switchable to anything that takes your fancy - pears, berries, apples and cherries - just remember that the softer fruits will be ready to go without any pre-cooking. But trust me when I say that plum and chocolate, however unconventional, is actually a sweet combination (much like The Captain and I hehe).
I know that flognarde is technically a spring dessert, but I really can't imagine anybody complaining especially after I stick a hot spoonful of this baked custardy goodness in their mouth. And in case you really wanted to know, yes, this is a clafoutis but because it doesn't use cherries, it technically should be called a flognarde. I don't really care which name to use - one sounds like a throat gargle and the other sounds like a sneeze. A rose by any other name, is still a rose... and an utterly delicious one at that.
Ingredients
(serves 4-6)
500g plums, about 4 large or 5 small - washed, stoned and cut into 1cm slices
30g butter
2 Tbl caster sugar
60g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
110g caster sugar
70g dark chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
300ml thickened cream
3 eggs
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C and grease 4 x 15cm shallow flan dishes with butter.
In a pan over medium-low heat, melt butter and sugar until sugar has dissolved. Add the sliced plums and cook for 5 minutes and set aside. I used semi-ripe, slightly firm plums and cooked it until it was just tender. You'll might have to adjust the cooking time depending on how soft/ripe your fruits are. Personally I like it to still have a bite to it instead of soft.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa and sugar together. In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together the cream and eggs.
Add the cream mix into the flour mixture and whisk lightly. Add the cooled melted chocolate and whisk gently until just combined.
Spoon batter into the tart pans up to halfway (they'll rise a little when baked). Top with the plum segments and bake for 30 minutes or until batter is just cooked (skewer will come out with a few moist crumbs stuck to it).
Remove and serve warm with a light dusting of icing sugar.
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