If you blinked, you might have missed apricots at the farmers market this season.  They got hit hard by late rains this spring which all but decimated the crop.  Luckily I scooped up a few pounds and poured them into one of my favorites dessert recipes: clafouti.

Clafouti is a baked French dessert of black cherries arranged in a buttered dish which is like a custard-souffle. The clafouti is dusted with powdered sugar and served lukewarm. Clafouti comes from the Limousin region of France and while black cherries are the traditional there are numerous variations using other fruits including plums, apricots, apples, cranberries or blackberries. When other kinds of fruit are used instead of cherries, the dish is called a flaugnarde…but I’m sure you knew that;-)

Of course I try to feature desserts with a healthy bent – and these fruits fit the bill. Blueberries are rich in natural antioxidant polyphenols. The most potent ones in blueberries are similar to polyphenols in apples and certain red wines. All these foods are rich enough in polyphenols to actually affect your brain when you eat them. At Tufts University, the first-ever clinical trial showed that blueberries improve cognitive function in humans with Alzheimer’s, in only 12 weeks time.  That combined with apricots’ vitamins A and C and potassium make for a seasonal dessert that keeps the brain sharp and the palate satiated.

Apricot Blueberry Flaugnarde…or Custard-Souffle

In keeping with using alternative ingredients, I used coconut milk and sweet sorghum flour, which makes this gluten and dairy free.  It’s still rich and creamy and super easy.

1 cup fresh apricots, pitted and chopped
1 cup fresh blueberries
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 cup organic coconut milk
1/3 cup raw agave nectar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour (I used sorghum which is gluten free)
Sliced almonds, toasted, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375º. Butter a 9- or 10-inch glass pie dish and scatter the fruit evenly over the bottom of the dish.

Beat the eggs, egg yolk, coconut milk, agave nectar, almond extract and salt in a medium bowl until well blended. While beating, slowly sprinkle the flour over the egg mixture until smooth.

Pour the mixture over the fruit and bake 30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of the custard comes out clean. Cool completely before dusting with the optional toasted almonds.