A flognarde is a sinfully delicious ‘cakey-puddingy’ dessert that is similar to the clafoutis made with cherries.

SUMMER PEACHES
Though clafoutis is usually made with cherries, I let the seasons guide me when making the classic French dessert. In that case, it shouldn’t be called a clafoutis but a ‘flognarde’. I am quite fond of making a flognarde with the summer’s sweetest strawberries and serving it with a bowl of crème fraîche and a dusting of icing sugar. In the autumn, one of my favorite flognarde variations is made with crisp apples and sweet, juicy blackberries. Another lovely summer variation is a flognarde made with ripe, fragrant peaches. The flognarde will taste best if served in the garden on a sunny day with a chilled bottle of pink Crémant – and a big smile.

NOTE: This recipe was part of the Spring/Summer 2018 ‘French Life’ Cookalong.

Peach flognarde
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 ripe peaches (approx. 300g), halved and sliced
100ml single cream
1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out
100ml milk
3 eggs
70g caster sugar
50g all-purpose flour
30g ground almonds
2 tsps almond extract, or just use vanilla extract
Crème fraîche and icing sugar, to serve

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Butter a 27cm oval oven dish and line it with the sliced peaches. Put the pan on a baking tray. Heat the cream along with seeds from the vanilla pod and the pod. Let this cook gently without boiling for about three minutes. Add the cold milk and set aside. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the sugar, flour, ground almonds and almond extract. Remove from the heat, fish out the vanilla pod and allow to dry. You can use it in a pot of sugar. Add the cooled cream and milk mixture to the eggs while beating and pour the batter over the peaches. Bake for 25-30 minutes and serve warm with crème fraîche and icing sugar. Bliss!