Traditional Far Breton

The Far Breton, or Breton Far, is a renowned, sophisticated recette to enjoy prunes, widely appreciated in France. It is indeed common to find this Brittany dense pudding similar to a Clafoutis filled with dried fruits, even though the original Farz Fourn ("oven baked far" in Breton) recipe was a savoury flan served with traditional French meat dishes.

The authentic Far Breton recette dates back to the 18th century. The savoury version of this fine pudding - made with buckweat flour - was then highly appreciated to complement main meat dishes in Brittany. Whilst this original recipe has been mainly adopted in this West region of France, the sweet Breton Far has known a great - national! - success since the middle of the 19th century.

This rich Bretagne speciality rapidly became a traditional dessert for family meals and religious celebrations, and its recipe even started to evolve. To create a denser and richer flan, cooks and patissiers added then more butter and eggs - which made the Far Breton a more expensive dessert enjoyed by the upper class at that time.

Nowadays, the typical Breton Far is known as the French custard tart, a popular Clafoutis filled with prunes or raisins depending on the regions of France. Both refined and easy to make, this sweet speciality widely represents Bretagne's gastronomy and convivial traditions.

Top Tip! To vary the tastes, it is common sight now in Brittany to add vanilla sugar, warm tea, rum or plum liqueur the Far dough. And for a really tasty experience, do try to accompany the Breton prune cake with cottage cheese and/ or homemade apple or blueberry marmalade!

Don't forget that the lovely Brittany region hosts many other treasures! To learn more about Western France, you can visit French-Property.com's complete regional guide. The Wine and Gastronomy sections will definitely stimulate your senses!