Last night I saw the first holiday commercial of the season. Christmas ornaments danced across my screen as I yelled to a friend “Whhhhattt?!” I haven’t even gotten the opportunity to surprise kids on Mendenhall with Tootie Rolls and dental floss for Halloween! I still have to judge the annual Westerwood chili cook off next weekend. And what about Thanksgiving?

One perk of this super-early-arrival is that fresh cranberries are now available in the produce section of grocery stores. We used them at my Fall Off Mendenhall Cooking Class this week at the Greensboro Children’s Museum Edible Schoolyard on Tuesday night. They were delicious in a Clafouti – which is basically a very light batter poured atop fresh berries and a sprinkle of sugar. We used a blender to make the pancake-like batter and skipped the recommended whipped cream.

As we practiced various pronunciations of “clafouti, ” we enjoyed the dessert with plenty of powered sugar on top!

This is a great Fall dessert to share with friends – and a super simple – yet pretty – sweet dish for a party or celebration. You could also make this dish with dried cranberries soaked in a little liquor (bourbon!) Get into the season. It’s here, right?

Cranberry Clafouti
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, November 2011

Dish Prep:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar

Batter:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream, chilled
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons orange zest

Assembly:
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped

Garnish:
Confectioners sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Use a pastry brush to butter a 1-quart non-metal baking dish and sprinkle the bottom with 2 tablespoons of sugar.

In a large bowl, sift together the 1/2 of sugar, flour, and pinch of salt.  Then gradually whisk in the eggs, heavy cream, milk, and orange zest.

Scatter the cranberries over the bottom of the prepared dish and pour the batter on top. Bake for 32 to 34 minutes, until the clafouti is puffed, slightly set, and brown around the edges. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving (it will sink while it cools).

Dust the clafouti with confectioners sugar and serve warm.