Plum clafouti

Italian Plums in Portland

It seems like every yard in Portland has at least one Italian plum tree, and they all come ripe at once in an avalanche of plums while every year we scramble to figure out what to do with them all.

Sure, you can freeze them, dehydrate them, or cook them down into jam and can them, but this recipe for plum clafouti is another good option. (Check out our recipe for sweet and sour lamb meatballs with plums, too.)

How to make plum clafouti:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Then make a pie crust. In a medium size glass pie pan, melt a third of a stick of butter. Add 1 cup of flour and mix with a fork until it’s all mixed. Spread it with your fingers until it covers the bottom and sides. Cover the bottom of the pan with plums cut in halves or quarters, with the pits taken out. (Or you can skip the crust and just put the plums right into the pie pan.)

In a medium size mixing bowl, mix 4 eggs, a cup of milk, a teaspoon of vanilla, half a cup of sugar, and 1/2 cup of flour. Pour the filling into the pie shell, over the plums. Bake at 350 until the filling is set and not runny, about half an hour.

Vegetarian or vegan?

Vegetarian. Sorry, there’s no way to make this vegan; make a plum crisp instead.

And will plum clafouti keep?

Yes, you can keep it in the refrigerator, covered, for several days.

Published by Karen Carr

Dr. Karen Carr is Associate Professor Emerita, Department of History, Portland State University. She holds a doctorate in Classical Art and Archaeology from the University of Michigan. Follow her on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook, or buy her book, Vandals to Visigoths.

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