A quick clafoutis

What's a girl to do when plums are £1 for 2lbs at the market? Why, she buys them of course, along with a handful of Lancashire asparagus, 6 figs, a bunch of bananas and some fresh garlic.

After gorging on a few of the plums, she leaves them to rest for a couple of days while she does other things, only to come back to find them a little squishy. On a whim, while her best friend prepares a gorgeous baked cod and asparagus tray, she halves each plum over the sink, tears out the stone and places them on a little tart tray and leafs through her cookery scrap book. She finds the recipe - an easy clafoutis that she had long ago written in her book with multicoloured pens. The batter is prepared within 5 minutes, poured over the juicy plums and set in the oven to cook. Forty-five minutes seems to long, 30 just right.

A dollop of creme fraiche served with the slice is so irresistible that seconds are contemplated and contemplations are acted upon. Now, what to do with the figs...

Clafoutis
1 cup of self-raising flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup reduced-fat milk
1 tablespoon icing sugar, sifted

Arrange your fruit of desire, cut sides down, in a lightly greased 25cm flan dish. Sift flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Break eggs into well, add caster sugar and milk. Mix to form a smooth batter. Pour batter over plums. Bake in a moderate oven (180 celcius, 350 fahrenheit) for 45 minutes (although I thought this a bit too long) or until firm and golden. Serve hot or cold, sprinkled with icing sugar.