The Trouble with Jessica just came out on general release in cinemas. It stars two of my favourite actors: Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films) with sickly sweet voice and the razor-sharp-cheek-boned Rufus Sewell.
The story centres around a middle class dinner party in London. The hosts are trying to sell their house because they are broke, business is bad. Mid-dinner, one of the guests hangs themselves on their terrace. The remaining guests decide to cover it up, because a suicide will affect their house sale. Chaos ensues.
A recurring trope in the film refers to a clafoutis, the dessert at the dinner party. Even the policeman that interrupts the evening exclaims ‘ooh you have a clafoutis’. Which is odd as a clafoutis is not exactly a well known dessert in the UK although it is in France. Also, a clafoutis without cherries is a flaugnarde.
I really enjoyed the film when I saw it in the plush private cinema surroundings of Soho House. The script is witty, a modern-day farce, set within the upper middle class Islington dinner party.
But The Trouble with Jessica is rather stage-bound and static, more suited to a play than a film.
Here is a recipe for a plum ‘clafoutis’. It’s so simple but looks spectacular, the bleeding fruit in batter. It’s even better perhaps the next day, as brunch.
Plum Flaugnarde/clafoutis
Ingredients
- 10 large ripe plums, cut in half and stoned
- 20 g butter for greasing
- 4 eggs
- 150 g caster sugar
- 50 g plain flour
- 600 ml double cream
Instructions
- Prepare the plums, by cutting them in half along the dimple from the root and twisting. Remove the pits.
- Butter/grease a baking dish
- Preheat the oven to 180cº
- Place the plums, cut side down, in the baking tray.
- Whisk the eggs then add the sugar. Slowly sift in the flour, while stirring, then add the cream, whisking thoroughly.
- Pour the batter over the fruit.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until set.
- This gorgeous pudding could be accompanied with some Umeshu, Japanese plum wine or some overproofed rum, for sipping.
Leave a Reply