Low-carb; High-pleasure
After three weeks of Karen’s double-ginger biscotti, Nigella’s pomegranate ice cream, Diana’s marvelous miniature coconut tarts, my own homemade cookies, a gift box of caramels covered in white chocolate and topped with fleur de sel and one final, fabulous slice of left-over Buche du Noel for breakfast, my clothes are too tight. Quelle surprise!
Time to go back to lower-carb eating for a spell. Last night’s dinner included baby rib lamb chops atop a little arugula plus broccoli from the farmers’ market, dressed with browned butter and Meyer lemon juice. For dessert I made the above dessert from a cookbook by one of my favorite French chefs: Guy Savoy. I reduced the sugar a bit, but the rest of the ingredients were completely low-carb-friendly.
J thought the result was fabulous — company-worthy. My enthusiasm was more restrained. It certainly was better than no dessert at all, and it was more interesting than a bowl of raspberries with a dollop of creme fraiche on the side, but I’d have enjoyed it more if it had been labeled “Raspberry Gratin” or “Warm Creamy Raspberry Thingy.” But a clafoutis is a cake–a very simple cake, actually a glorified pancake — and this recipe lacked that comfortingly cakey texture.
Still, zipper-poppers can’t be choosers.
Raspberry Almost-Clafoutis
(slightly modified from “Guy Savoy; Simple Recipes for the Home Cook”)
Serves 4
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons sugar plus 1 tsp. for coating the dish
Butter
4 ounces creme fraiche
1 tablespoon framboise
1/2 pound fresh raspberries
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Whisk the eggs, 3 tablespoons sugar and creme fraiche together until smooth and emulsified. Stir in the framboise.
Lightly butter a baking dish large enough to hold the raspberries in one layer. Sprinkle with the teaspoon of sugar and shake to distribute evenly. Layer the raspberries onto the dish. Pour the creme fraiche mix over them. Bake until puffy and browned in spots. This might happen in 20 minutes if you’re using a copper gratin dish; my heavy pottery dish required closer to 30 minutes
Remove from the oven and cool slightly, but serve warm. Powdered sugar dusted on top or vanilla ice cream served alongside would be lovely if you were a more disciplined diner over the holidays than I.
Tags: Guy Savoy, low-carb, raspberry gratin, recipes
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 5:17 amand is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 12th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Now that’s not at all fair! I love clafouti and that looks gorgeous! I’ve never tried it with berries - only stone fruits. I suppose something gooey and chocolate-y could have been better… but, as I fellow zipper-popper….
January 13th, 2008 at 2:09 am
mmmmmm. I’m on the low carb way too and craving something sweet. I’ll try this. Thanks. Beautiful too.
January 13th, 2008 at 2:13 am
Want recipe for Karen’s double ginger biscotti!!!
January 13th, 2008 at 4:50 am
karen is the wonder who makes the trains run on time at J’s office. I’ll ask her.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:04 am
I have tried Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet and other forms of Low Carb diet. They are all good for the general health and for maintaining a healthy weight.