Far breton aux pruneaux

Added 16/Jul/2022

Ingredients

(8 portions)

Pour un grand moule à manqué ou un grand moule rectangulaire : (so, like, 30cm-ish springvorm works well)

1 l de lait
500 g de pruneaux moelleux dénoyautés
225 g de farine
125 g de sucre en poudre
4 œufs
1 pincée de sel
Pour parfumer: rhum, ou 50-60mL eau de fleur d’oranger si vous n’utilisez pas d’alcool
Quelques noisettes de beurre (so, like, a few teaspoonfuls)

Préchauffer le four à 190°C. Verser la farine et le sel dans un saladier.
Ajouter les œufs un à un et mélanger bien pour que la pâte soit homogène et qu’il n’y ait pas de grumeaux.
Incorporer le sucre puis délayer [red: dissolve in liquid] le tout avec le lait.
Ajouter enfin le parfum, mélanger à nouveau. Terminer en ajoutant les pruneaux.
Verser la pâte dans le moule généreusement beurré, déposer quelques noisettes de beurre à la surface et enfourner pour 40 minutes environ. (or a lot longer according to A)
(when it was getting dark on top after 40+ minutes of 190, i dialed back the temperature to about 160 for another while, see below)
Pour finir: Laisser refroidir totalement à température ambiante avant de servir. Bon appétit !

Julie R, 32, bretonne, gives the result of this recipe a thumbs-up. She confirmed that the way i did it (baking it way longer than suggested) for a stiff, yellow, browned-on-top result was correct, and that it shouldn’t be pale and runny.
I used about 50-60mL of orange blossom water - 1/4 cup.
Mixing flour and eggs at the start seems like a crazy mess, why does the recipe suggest this? I had most success by breaking the 4 eggs into a large mixing bowl, whisking a bit, then sifting in the flour bit by bit, each time using a hand whisk to ensure a 100% smooth and dissolved mixture at every step. At some point the flour is too much and the mixture becomes dry - add small amounts of milk and whisk it smooth every time before adding more flour. That produced an excellent result.
Cooking time in original recipe is way off. I did about 40 minutes at 190 degrees until it’s good and bubbly and fairly brown on top, then another 30-40 minutes at 160 (but keep checking it so it doesn’t get too dry). Especially at the end it went really fast — the knife came out with the bottom half still being undercooked, but within 5-10 minutes that had changed drastically, so beware).