Far Breton aux Pruneaux
Did you ever have this happen to you?
You eat something this one time in your life and then for years, every now and then, the memory of it resurfaces in your mind and you can’t stop thinking about it…
You desperately want to eat that particular dish again, but you have no idea how to make it and since you don’t know how it’s called, well, you can’t really find a recipe for it.
Still, you search… you enter a whole bunch of keywords in Google and religiously scan the results, to no avail.
All your attempts remain unsuccessful.
I have a few of those.
One of them would be a very specific Moka Cheesecake recipe that I used to make back when I was a young adult. It had been printed in a little booklet that Kraft used to publish a few times a year around special Holidays. Unfortunately, I somehow misplaced that booklet and have been madly searching for that darn recipe for years. To this day, I’ve had no luck…
There’s also this Salad Fruit Cake with some sort of a Creamy Dreamy Rum Sauce that I remember eating when I was a very young kid. My memory of this one is pretty vague, yet I can still almost taste it. I believe that one of my aunt had made it, but I’ve asked all of them and none of them remembers ever making such a cake. Oh well. Looks like I’m gonna have to forget about that one… or maybe play it by tongue and try recreating something similar to what my taste buds remember…
Lastly, there’s this cake. Well, make that WAS!
This is something that I remember eating / making back when I was in pastry school, but for some strange reason, I don’t seem to have the recipe in any of my school books. Trust me, I looked! I went through all of them numerous times, desperately trying to find the recipe for this delicious dessert, but… no luck.
I didn’t even remember how it was called. I only knew that it was some sort of a flan with prunes in it.
Then one fine morning, not too long ago, I was having breakfast quietly while reading a magazine when I saw it: a picture of that dessert I’d been dreaming about for so long.
Apparently, it was called a Far Breton. What a pretty name!
I almost cried!
But as much as I wanted to reconnect with that same flavor I’d experienced years before, making the real thing now was out of the question. I had to come up with a healthier version.
So I turned to the Internet for inspiration and finally decided on this one as a base for my experiment.
Well, I’m not sure if my taste buds are getting old or if they are truly happy with the stuff that I’ve been feeding them, but I’m telling you, they didn’t even seem to mind that I didn’t serve them the “real” thing.
In fact, I think they too cried a little with every bite that I took.
This beautiful flan lasted me an entire week. I would have a little piece at breakfast, alongside my eggs or meat and veggies.
Boy oh boy did it satisfy!
Honestly, I’ve forgotten all about the original, now. The memory has been replaced with this new one.
And I’m lovin’ it even more.
Only now, when I want to eat it again, I will know exactly where to go for the recipe!
Far Breton aux Pruneaux
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil for greasing pan
- 2 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut
For the flan mixture
- 4 eggs
- ½ ripe banana
- ¼ cup arrowroot flour
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ¾ cup full fat coconut milk
- 1¼ cup pure coconut water
- 1 cup 200g pitted prunes
- ¼ tsp Himalayan or unrefined sea salt
- ½ tsp vanilla powder, or pure vanilla extract
Crispy Topping
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a small food processor, add the eggs and bananas and process until well combined. Add the arrowroot flour and melted coconut oil and mix well.
- Add coconut milk, coconut water, salt and vanilla and continue mixing for a about minute.
- Meanwhile, grease an oven safe ceramic dish with coconut oil then add shredded coconut and swirl the dish around so the coconut sticks to all surfaces.
- Lay the pitted prunes in the bottom of your dish and delicately pour the egg batter over the prunes.
- Place in the oven and bake at 400°F for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 325°F and continue baking for 1 hour.
- About 10 minutes before the end of cooking time, mix coconut oil and shredded coconut together and sprinkle the mixture all over the top of your far Breton.
- Cool to room temperature then chill completely in refrigerator before serving.
- Note that, much like a soufflé, your far Breton will slightly expand during cooking and fall when cooling.
Notes
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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Beautiful coconut-y crust
Creamy and sweet, sweet and creamy…
Just look at that beautiful, moist and sweet prune
And the flan is so soft and moist… it melts in your mouth!
10 Comments on “Far Breton aux Pruneaux”
Hi Sonia,
Your blog has been in my favourites for several months now, and today I can’t help not leaving a message as I’m a French girl from Britanny and I do know well this famous cake. The original recipe is indeed very good and comforting, though quite heavy on the stomach with a far amount of flour and sugar. It is sometimes made with apples instead of the prunes, which is equally good (even more with if apples are slightly caramelised, yum), and I’ve even seen non-traditional decadent versions with chocolate chips…
Your healthy twist using the arrowroot, coconut milk and oil in place of cow’s milk and butter is interesting. I may try next time I’m going home, for my dad who loves the Far Breton, but doesn’t do well with dairy, and by chance loves coconut too!
Thanks for your fantastic blog and hundreds of inspiring healthy recipes.
Gabrielle
Gabrielle, if you make this for your dad, you have to let me know how he liked it! I would be so happy if he got to enjoy this brilliant dessert again without having to suffer the drawbacks of eating dairy. It has been a very long time since I’ve had “the real thing”, but I think this version did it great justice. It’s probably lighter and has a bit of a freshness to it, which I hope he likes.
Oh, and also, I love the idea of making this with caramelized apples. I’d probably even add a touch of maple syrup. Oh yum! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hello ! I’m french and I come from Brittany where the Far is the typical cake (that’s why it’s called “Breton”). It’s funny to see that recipe outside the country 🙂
Everyone has his own recipe here, but mine is healthier and as good as the original (no butter and less sugar). My father loves it! If you want to eat the real Far Breton again…
250 grams of all-purpose flour
75 grams of sugar
3/4 litre (75 centiltres) of milk
3 eggs
a pinch of salt
prunes
black tea (strong)
Preheat the oven at 200°C (400°F).
Soak the prunes in the hot tea.
Melt flour, salt, eggs and sugar. Add the milk previously warmed up (not boiling).
Pour in a mould (greased with a kitchen paper). Drain the prunes and add them. Put it in the oven for 30 minutes, then, during 15 to 30 minutes at 180°C (350°F). The far must be golden.
Warning !! The far has to be cold when you eat it.
This recipe is about 136 kcal/100 grams!
Oh, and I love your blog! I’m vegetarian and I ever made some recipes you posted…delicious! I hope, if you make the far, that you’ll enjoy it. Have a nice day 🙂
Thanks for that, Claire! I can guarantee that if I ever feel the need to try the real thing ever again, I will definitely go to your recipe!
Oh my God! I love the fact that you made it vegan! Thanks!
Actually Ana, it’s not really vegan as it contains eggs… 🙁
oh my! this looks delish!!! And so pleased it’s with coconut oil which I’ve started taking lately! I’m definitely trying this out, thanks for the brilliant idea!
I would love to try this for a party, but don’t have coconut milk or water on hand. Could regular milk be substituted straight up for the amount of coconut milk/water combined?
OK, I made this. It was really really REALLY good! The texture was surprisingly light and moist but very rich at the same time. It reminded me of a Clafoutis, a French flan traditionally made with cherries (or apples). I just love how coconut milk beats dairy any time! I will make Far Breton again.
Thanks for this great recipe and by the way, your photos are the best!
Aw, thanks Blu, that is very nice of you to say.
Real glad you enjoyed the Far Breton, and you are so right about coconut milk beating dairy hands down any time! 🙂