Julia Child's Berry Clafoutis Recipe (2024)

I checked the original recipe, the one referenced in the article, and it's substantially different from this one (more berries, less sugar...) so don't blame Julia Child if it doesn't work for you. This isn't her recipe.

Nice recipe Anne, but the point here is to review the recipe, not use this as a forum for your own totally different dessert.

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 is actually a recipe for clafouti, not flan. Clafoutis can often be too "eggy" so that they taste too custardy. You can solve the problem by using a little baking powder in the batter to help ensure the puffiness.

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.

As others have noted, this isn't quite a flan. I don't think it's really clafouti either. But it is delicious. I made it in a cast iron skillet and it browned beautifully.

What size baking dish? 9x13?

Great recipe. Thank you. This is "adapted" from dear Julia bakers, not directly hers - first clue is that 2% milk can be used. Now Folks, does that sound like the Julia we know and love??? :-)

It is Julia's recipe for clafoutis, not flan. I make it often, with many different fruits and also rhubarb.

Goodness this is tasty. I've made it several different times with different berries - raspberries this last time I think. It's incredibly good and guests love it and it takes virtually no effort.

This is only as good as the berries you use. Pick the smallest baking dish that will hold the ingredients, deeper is better since it will dry out less. If you have plums or other stone fruits go to Child's Clafouti recipe for plums in Mastering the Art of French Cooking - I think Volume 2.

We loved this. I used strawberries, because that's what I had, otherwise followed directions closely. Spreading the sugar (1/3 C) over the top before you bake is such a nice touch because it gets crispy. I used the same shape baking dish as the picture - assume similar size. Using a lot of butter to prep the dish is key - it came out of the pan very easily but other wise would have been sticky mess. Mine puffed up a lot - more like soufflé. Very pretty. Next time might serve ice cream with.

Turned out great! A few changes I made, in case anyone is wondering if they'll work: Used 1/4 c sugar. Not sweet, which I liked.Only used 1 tsp vanilla (was running low) + 1/4 tsp almond extract.Beat eggs, sugar, salt, & vanilla until light in color, then added milk & flour. Not sure if it mattered, but texture turned out well! Didn't have enough fresh blueberries, used ~3/4 c frozen to supplement. Microwaved the frozen ones first & let drain very well.Perfect!

Add lemon peel 1 teaspoons

Great dessert, I’ll be making it again, hopefully with better results. My oven turned off somehow and it just sat there, I got the oven heating again it rose beautifully. I’m sure it wasn’t perfect but I remembered Julia saying “never apologize”. My friends loved it.

Made it today since I had some over ripe prunes for which I had no purpose.... Turned out really well. Largely followed recipe, added lemon zest to the sugar over the fruit as suggested in these notes. I used a slightly smaller springform cake pan (7 inch, I think) and let the first layer of batter set in that pan on the bottom of my oven while it was getting hot, for 10 minutes (starting when the oven was about 175 degrees). Using spelt flour and overripe fruit I added 1/4 cup flour. Yummy!!

Made this lovely dessert with frozen raspberries. It was done at exactly 50min. I may have over cooked the first layer of clafoutis on my stovetop. I noticed when I was cutting slices the bottom layer stuck to the bottom on my pie pan. Overall, a huge hit. Very versatile. A stunning addition to my dessert rotation.

I trusted NYT and made this for guests. It tastes like a blueberry omelet.

Has anyone used strawberries?

2 eggs, 2/3 recipe. 45 minutes, turn in oven at 25.

Such a great recipe. We added some lemon zest to the sugar before sprinkling it on top of the fruit. Possibly the best clafoutis we've made. The 2 minutes on the stovetop is the secret!

Mine lacked flavor, and the batter was dense and chewy. Maybe I overcooked it?

We needed to have dessert, so we decided to make this, and it was wonderful. The flavors were subtle, but delicious. Easy to make. Used cherries.

I think everyone who is saying this has twice the sugar of the original recipe is not reading it correctly - if you turn the page in your Julia Child you will see that the second 1/3 cup of sugar is sprinkled over the blackberries.

I plan make this soon, and will be using Califia Barista oat milk. I'll let you know how it turns out! Anyone else use alternatives to cow's milk for this?

Great recipe, however I'd recommend covering it while you bake for the first 35 minutes or so. Then uncover it for the remainder. I was really hesitant to leave it uncovered the whole time (because the recipe doesn't say to cover it or not). Baked it in a Dutch oven and that worked great.

Came out rubbery. It may have been over cooked.