coconut and apricot clafoutis in lemon balm and vermouth honey syrup

I never cease to be amazed how recipes have a way of going their own way, in spite of a clear image of how you want it to look and taste. Case in point: these clafoutis. I bought the apricots carefully - they felt slightly soft to the thumb, so I thought they would be ripe. Once sliced and bitten into , the slices seemed to need a little pizazz, so I made up a delightful honey, vermouth, and lemon balm syrup to slightly poach them in.

As I whizzed the clafouti batter and poured it into the assortment of dessert dishes, I ran out of apricots for the last dish, so threw in some dried coconut. Wouldn't you know that was the clafouti I liked best? From now on, I'm going with coconut and maybe some fresh raspberries for a simple and fresh dessert. I liked the apricot, but I loved the coconut.

I used both shallow and deeper souffle dishes, as an experiment, and ended up preferring the deeper dishes.

The poaching syrup:

In small saucepan combine:

2 sliced apricots

2 T. honey

a few scrapings of lemon zest

a small piece of vanilla bean

1 T. dry vermouth

pinch nutmeg

pinch cinnamon

2 large lemon balm leaves, sliced ( or basil leaves, which are amazingly delicious)

Simmer briefly, stirring gently. Remove from heat.

Butter little souffle or ovenproof dishes.

Preheat oven to 340F.

Batter:

1 cup milk

1/4 cup medium or heavy cream

3 eggs

2 t. vanilla

1/8 t. salt

1/2 cup King Arthur flour

1/3 cup sugar plus more for sprinkling

Whiz in a blender.

Pour batter about 3/4 way up dishes, then place several slices of apricot in each dish, if using apricots. Drizzle a little liquid in as well.

For the coconut clafouti, sprinkle about 1/2 cup dried, sweetened coconut into the dish and cover with batter. Drizzle a little poaching liquid on top.

Place dishes on a baking sheet, sprinkle with sugar, and bake until slightly puffed and firm, approximately 30 minutes.

Serve warm. Makes 4 servings.

Enjoy!