Almost too late: Strawberry Clafoutis in very early May!

I thought that I wasn't going to get a chance to do any baking this month, but at last I got to make the Clafoutis as posted by Rebecca for April, even if it is very early May!

I was keen to try this recipe, as I have a very successful clafoutis recipe that I have used in the past, and I wanted to compare them. Anyway, more about how and why it happened today:

It was a glorious autumn day today in Sydney, still warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt as we went to North Bondi for a walk along the cliffs and beach. And because it was such a glorious day, I decided that we had to have an extra special dinner. And as it happened, I had almost everything needed for the clafoutis at home, except the blanched almonds which are ground up anyway, so I just used some almond meal,,,,,,,,

Anyway, I made half the mix, as there are only 2 of us in the house, and if I had made it all, we were likely to eat it all in one sitting! And I used some small overware dishes, to make 3 individual dishes.

As it isn't strawberry season in Australia, the ones I bought were not fantastic and I had to toss a few out, so I supplemented the strawbs in the oval dish with a few mixed frozen berries.

The clafoutis looked amazing when it first came out of the oven, all puffed up!

I confess I was a bit disappointed by what they looked like after they had been sitting on the bench for about 30 minutes, cooling. They were somewhat deflated and so was I!

But I persisted, and sprinkled them with icing sugar, and served them up. (They still did look good, as the custard has slightly shrunk away from the strawberries, leaving a wonderful textured surface.)

And, what was it like?

The flavour was lovely - I think that strawberries are better for this than the cherries I normally use.

The texture was great - using ground almonds in the custard gives it a firmer, less rubbery texture, plus a nice nutty taste too.

And what did we think overall:

The Clafouti recipe was a huge success. I'll definitely make this one again. And my partner won't complain - he loved it too!