far breton

i made this for our embroiderer's guild comic relief bake-off, whew what a mouthful!

it's a traditional french batter pudding from brittany which can be served as a cake or dessert , warm or cold - usually made plain or with prunes, i did it with prunes soaked in rum, to add a little kick

other dried fruit like apricots (chopped up), sour cherries, cranberries and blueberries work really well too

ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 600ml milk (or milk & cream)
• 80 g sugar
• 125 g plain flour
• 20 pitted dried or ready-to eat prunes (avoid tinned ones)
• 1-2 tbsp extra flour
• a good knob of butter

method

• warm the oven to 180 or gas 5-6
• select a large shallow 1.5 litre oven-proof dish
• spread the butter round the inside of the dish, tip in 1 tbsp flour and shake it around so that it coats the butter – this forms a sort of crust for the Far, be generous with the butter
• make a batter with the eggs, milk sugar and flour
• pour the batter into the prepared dish
• the prunes can be cut into 2-3 smaller chunks if you prefer - sprinkle them across the whole dish
• bake 45 mins – 1 hr - until brown & puffy on top, it will sink as it cools
• cool, serve warm or cold in slices like a cake, it keeps well in a cool place for a couple of days

variations

• other dried fruit can be used, on their own or combined e.g. apricots, cranberries, blueberries/bilberries, sour cherries
• soak the prunes in rum overnight
• add vanilla essence or vanilla sugar