Far Bretton

I admit. I love custard. In any form, with just about any mix-ins. Fruit, chocolate, spices, lavender... I have yet to be disapointed. When I saw this recipe, I had never heard of a Far before, although I am a fan of baked custards and claufoutis, so it seemed like a no-brainer to give this a try.

Far Bretton

inspired by epicurious.com

2 cups milk
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2-3/4 c frozen wild blueberries

2-3 Tbs cognac or brandy

powdered sugar

Combine milk, eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt in blender jar. Blend 1 minute. Add flour and pulse just until blended, scraping down sides of jar. Cover and chill in jar (ideally) at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.

Place blueberries in cognac and let soak as long as your batter chills.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Butter 8-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom with parchment or waxed paper. Butter paper. Dust pan with flour, shaking out excess; place on baking sheet.
Reblend batter until smooth, about 5 seconds. Pour into prepared cake pan. Drop prunes and raisins into batter, distributing evenly. Bake cake on baking sheet until sides are puffed and brown and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool cake completely in pan on rack.

Place piece of parchment or waxed paper on flat plate. Sift powdered sugar onto paper. Run knife around cake in pan to loosen. Invert pan onto paper, releasing cake. Remove pan; peel off paper. Place serving plate over cake and invert. Dust top of cake with additional powdered sugar.

Pear Tart

The pears at the farmers market this morning just called out to me -I answered their summons and made this scrumptious tart:


Pear Tart
inspired by Julia Child's Mastering French Cooking

Pate Brisee crust, baked for about 15 minutes
4-6 bosc pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 c sugar
2 tbs butter
handfull of fresh or frozen cranberries

Sprinkle 3 Tbs of the sugar on the crust. Arrange the pears in the crust as you like. Here, I kept them in the shape of the pear but sliced them. It's more traditional to slice them horizontally. You can also simply arrange the slices in concentric circles within the crust. Place cranberries in center and in spaces between pears. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar on top and dot with butter. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Enjoy!