Rhubarb, Strawberry & Raspberry Flognarde
Don’t you love summer – when our gardens and the farmer’s markets are replete with fresh fruits and veggies? Today’s recipe is a flognarde made with freshly harvested fruits right out of the garden topped with a dollop of whipped coconut cream. Elegant, easy and fabulously delicious, a flognarde is a custard-like cake filled with fruit. As usual, there were no leftovers. One of my dinner guests declared I was now in charge of making her a flognarde once per week. Ha!
INGREDIENTS
Fresh fruit, rinsed (I used a combination of rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries – about 1-1/2 pounds, enough to adequately fill a shallow baking dish, overfilling a bit to allow for shrinkage)
3 large eggs
1 cup organic heavy cream or half & half
3/4 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup unbleached flour
5 tablespoons butter melted
1 tablespoon vanilla
Optional coconut whipped cream:
1 can full-fat coconut milk
2-3 tablespoons homemade powdered confectioner’s sugar made from cane sugar*
PREPARATION
The day before:
Chill a can of full-fat coconut milk into the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. The top layer of opaque “cream” is what you will be whipping.
*To prepare the powdered sugar, grind cane sugar in a blender for 3-4 minutes until there are no sugar crystals remaining. Set aside in an airtight container until ready to use.
The day of:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Wash rhubarb and remove the leaves and the thickened ends. Cut rhubarb into 1/4-inch thick pieces and spread out in greased baking dish. Wash and hull strawberries, cut into quarters and spread out over the rhubarb. Gently wash raspberries and carefully place over the top of the strawberries and rhubarb.
In a blender, combine eggs, milk, sugar, flour, butter and vanilla; blend until smooth. Pour egg mixture over the fruit. Bake the flognarde in the upper third of the preheated oven until puffed and set to the touch in the center, 55 to 65 minutes. Serve warm with a dollop of whipped coconut cream.
To make the whipped coconut cream:
Open the can of chilled coconut milk without shaking it or turning upside down and carefully spoon out the top layer of opaque, thickened milk that has gathered at the top of the can into a mixing bowl. Leave the syrupy looking translucent liquid in the can (reserve for use in other recipes or your morning smoothie). Add 2-3 tablespoons of powdered confectioners sugar to the thickened milk. Using a hand mixer, whip the coconut milk until creamy: start on low and then increase to a higher speed, moving the beater up and down and around to infuse the mixture with as much air as possible. Note: Coconut cream is best used right after it is whipped although it actually holds up fairly in the fridge.
Notes: Flognarde is a versatile dessert, you can really use just about any kind of fruit. If using fruits that are not as tart as rhubarb, reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup.
If you make this recipe, snap a pic of your dish and hashtag it #kellylenihancooks. I'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
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