Mangosteen Clafouti: Sounds like a disease; Tastes like a custard.

When my husband, mother-in-law, and I were traveling in China, she was obsessed with this fruit called a mangosteen. A friend had told her to make sure she ate a mangosteen in China. They're really rare in the states because they only grow in a certain region at a certain specific time. Chances are you haven't eaten one of these. For a long time, they weren't allowed into the US because of the fear of fruit flies. They're still rarely found fresh, but we found cans of mangosteen in a Chinese supermarket this weekend and surprisingly, there was a recipe on the web. The canned sections of mangosteen look rather like garlic, but thankfully they do not taste like it. See what I mean?
Anyway. So we went all over Chengdu looking for someone selling mangosteens. Finally, we found a woman selling them out of her baskets and excitedly ate them. They aren't nearly as exciting as the cross-continental buildup, but they have a pleasant taste and they are truly a bizarre visual hybrid of eggplant, tangerine, and shot putt.

But the dessert. Mangosteen Clafouti sounds like a disease and tastes like custard. It's a wonderful mix of mangosteen, which has a citrus-y peach mild flavor, coconut milk, and eggs. Delicious! Here's a finished product, before we poured more coconut milk on top:

Here's a link to the recipe!