Happy Monday, A-listers! It's so good to be back home in LA with T and the cats. I was home back in February, but I was home alone. Now that T is on summer break from filming, we get to come back home to LA and soak up the sun! Most of our friends are out here so it'll be wonderful to see them and catch up. Two months sounds like a long time and a short time - at the same time (does that make sense?) but it's all we get! Being home in LA means I have access to the best of my cooking and baking utensils, so I will be utilizing those as soon as possible. Not that I do not have great baking tools in Toronto, but my hunky Cuisinart mixer is here in LA and man is that big guy a godsend for my limpy (that should say "wimpy") arms! I did bring all of my favorite cookbooks to Toronto so I had to repack those and bring them back to LA. I will do a separate post about which cookbooks I highly recommend! Before we left Toronto, I treated T to one more homemade dessert - a chocolate chip clafouti! It's a sweet dessert that originated in Northern France. I do not make clafoutis often (and I don't know why because they are actually super simple to make!), but when I do I notice they are gone within a day or two! I first learned how to make clafoutis in culinary school three years ago (holy cow I can't believe it's been that long). Clafoutis are like a custardy tart. If a cake and a custard had a baby, it would be a clafouti. Normally you would make them with berries, but I decided to break the rules a little and use chocolate instead! Ingredients (for 4 clafoutis): 2 cups chocolate chips (or if you do wish to make it with fruit, you can use blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, pears, or cherries) 3/4 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup sugar Confectioner's sugar 2 eggs 8 fluid oz/250 mL heavy cream 2 tablespoons vanilla extract Preheat the oven to 400F. Butter the baking dishes and sprinkle flour to coat the inside. Place chocolate chips (or fruit) in the dishes to cover the bottom. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine and flour and sugar. Mix well. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, cream, and vanilla. Whisk until blended but do not over mix. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the "well" of the flour mixture. Mix the flour mixture and egg mixture together to form a smooth, creamy batter. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Slowly pour the batter over the chocolate chips (or fruit) in each dish. Bake until the batter turns a light golden color - about 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top for extra sweetness. You can also serve these with fresh whipped cream as well. Serve the clafoutis warm or at room temperature. [show_shopthepost_widget id="675730"]

Happy Monday, A-listers! It’s so good to be back home in LA with T and the cats. I was home back in February, but I was home alone. Now that T is on summer break from filming, we get to come back home to LA and soak up the sun! Most of our friends are out here so it’ll be wonderful to see them and catch up. Two months sounds like a long time and a short time – at the same time (does that make sense?) but it’s all we get!

Being home in LA means I have access to the best of my cooking and baking utensils, so I will be utilizing those as soon as possible. Not that I do not have great baking tools in Toronto, but my hunky Cuisinart mixer is here in LA and man is that big guy a godsend for my limpy (that should say “wimpy”) arms! I did bring all of my favorite cookbooks to Toronto so I had to repack those and bring them back to LA. I will do a separate post about which cookbooks I highly recommend!

Before we left Toronto, I treated T to one more homemade dessert – a chocolate chip clafouti! It’s a sweet dessert that originated in Northern France. I do not make clafoutis often (and I don’t know why because they are actually super simple to make!), but when I do I notice they are gone within a day or two! I first learned how to make clafoutis in culinary school three years ago (holy cow I can’t believe it’s been that long). Clafoutis are like a custardy tart. If a cake and a custard had a baby, it would be a clafouti. Normally you would make them with berries, but I decided to break the rules a little and use chocolate instead!

Ingredients (for 4 clafoutis):
2 cups chocolate chips (or if you do wish to make it with fruit, you can use blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, pears, or cherries)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
Confectioner’s sugar
2 eggs
8 fluid oz/250 mL heavy cream
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400F. Butter the baking dishes and sprinkle flour to coat the inside. Place chocolate chips (or fruit) in the dishes to cover the bottom. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine and flour and sugar. Mix well. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, cream, and vanilla. Whisk until blended but do not over mix.

Slowly pour the egg mixture into the “well” of the flour mixture. Mix the flour mixture and egg mixture together to form a smooth, creamy batter. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

Slowly pour the batter over the chocolate chips (or fruit) in each dish.

Bake until the batter turns a light golden color – about 20-25 minutes.

Sprinkle confectioner’s sugar on top for extra sweetness. You can also serve these with fresh whipped cream as well. Serve the clafoutis warm or at room temperature.

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”675730″]