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Julia Child's Berry Clafoutis

Updated June 30, 2025

Julia Child's Berry Clafoutis
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
5(4,600)
Comments
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This recipe is for a delicately sweet dessert whose elegance should not distract from its ease (it can be made while the rest of dinner is in the oven). Make sure you have fresh berries, and serve the result warm. We call for blueberries or blackberries here, but feel free to try it with whatever seasonal fruit catches your eye. —Julia Moskin

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • Butter for pan
  • 1and ¼ cups whole or 2 percent milk
  • cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 3eggs
  • 1tablespoon vanilla extract
  • teaspoon salt
  • 1cup flour
  • 1pint (2 generous cups) blackberries or blueberries, rinsed and well drained
  • Powdered sugar in a shaker
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

202 calories; 4 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 22 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 78 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a medium-size flameproof baking dish at least 1½ inches deep.

  2. Step 2

    Place the milk, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour in a blender. Blend at top speed until smooth and frothy, about 1 minute.

  3. Step 3

    Pour a ¼-inch layer of batter in the baking dish. Turn on a stove burner to low and set dish on top for a minute or two, until a film of batter has set in the bottom of the dish. Remove from heat.

  4. Step 4

    Spread berries over the batter and sprinkle on the remaining ⅓ cup granulated sugar. Pour on the rest of the batter and smooth with the back of a spoon. Place in the center of the oven and bake about 50 minutes, until top is puffed and browned and a tester plunged into its center comes out clean.

  5. Step 5

    Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving. (Clafoutis need not be served hot, but should still be warm. It will sink slightly as it cools.)

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Ratings

5 out of 5
4,600 user ratings
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Comments

Prefer recipe from "A Provincial Table," by Richard Olney
2 TBS butter
1 pound apricots, halved and pitted
2 oz slivered almonds
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1-1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter shallow baking dish. Arrange apricots, cut surface down in single layer. Add almonds. Whisk together 1/2 cup sugar, salt, eggs. Whisk in flour, add milk. Pour mixture over apricots. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over surface. Dot with butter. Bake for 40 minutes til golden.

The negative comments are quite overblown and questionable. This recipe works fine as it is written here. If you want to reduce sugar, obviously that's fine too. Julia Child, in the Art of French Cooking, calls these clafoutis and flans interchangeably, and her basic recipe uses 2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour, and 1/3 c. granulated sugar, and 3 cups (1 1/4 Ibs) blackberries or blueberries. The NYT version of the recipe works out fine, but Julia's version is BETTER.

This looked dull, but I tried it. Cooled it just slightly then Hub and I spooned it into small dishes while it was still warm...one taste and there was silence. And then the yumming commenced and instead of proper, polite second helpings, we grabbed a big knife and drew a line across the clafoutis and ate it (vulture style) standing at the kitchen counter. See Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook for a variation... plums and vanilla AND a dab of almond extract.

Maybe I didn't make it right, though I followed the recipe precisely. Did not care for this. Wasted a pint of freshly picked blackberries. Tossed the leftovers out.

Turned out great - really liked the texture. I followed the recipe, but used frozen peaches and strawberries (thawed before cooking) and it still cooked through in 50 min.

tasty but could have benefited with a citrus element

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Credits

Adapted from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” by Julia Child (Knopf, 1961)

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