Clafoutis with Almond Flour



My dear friend Pat and her husband shared the idea of a clafoutis with me and it's become something that I really enjoy. Of course, they live in France and we don't, but don't let that stop us from making something very French! I've heard that clafoutis is made only with cherries and anything made using other fruit is not a clafoutis (I've heard the term flaugnarde thrown around) but the basic recipe really does lend itself well to any fruit. I've tried raspberries, blueberries, quartered strawberries and pitted cherries. They all turned out great. The only thing that they have in common is that they were all fresh. Fresh, frozen, pitted, unpitted, I'm sure it will all work out.

I tried a couple of different recipes and this is the one that struck me as the best. The addition of almond flour gives a faint twist to the flavor. The original recipe actually called for chestnut flour but I just used all purpose in lieu of that because it's not as easy to find. Almond flour, on the other hand, is available at Target or Wegmans. A small bag lasts a good long time for me as the recipe only calls for 2/3 cup. I think that nut flours tend to taste a little different if they've been sitting for awhile in an already opened bag so mind the expiry date, please.

If you find that you're short on certain ingredients, this isn't very fussy. I actually used ricotta leftover from when I made cheesecake and it was only about 2/3 cup. The recipe calls for 1 cup but it was fine. Then the part where it calls for cream of tartar, a teaspoon of lemon juice can be substituted, as per the original recipe. Personally though, I have never tried making the substitution. I use whatever fruit is on hand, however much is available. I've never had a problem.

As for serving ideas, I like serving this a la mode if it's still very warm. On it's own, it's got a sort of pancake-y quality that actually makes it great as breakfast too! Ideally, you'd make it late in the afternoon so it can be served as dessert after dinner. We usually can't wait that long to eat something that's come out of the oven so my solution is always to top with ice cream. I made it with strawberries and topped with Market Pantry Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. Sooooo good! Let leftovers cool completely and store in the fridge for the next day's brekky. You can eat it cold. Can't beat that!



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Clafoutis with Almond Flour
by
Ingredients:
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 1 cup Greek style yogurt or ricotta 
  • 3/4 cup Turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
  • 2/3 cup almond flour
  • 2/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4t cream of tartar or 1t lemon juice
  • 1/4t salt
  • 4 cups cherries

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the dish of your choice. I frequently use a 2.5 quart oval Corningware which I grease on the sides and lay a piece parchment at the bottom of.
2. Separate eggs into two mixing bowls. The egg whites go into the bowl that goes with the mixer. The yolks go into a bowl large enough to accommodate the whole batter, with the beaten egg whites folded in. 
3. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt until they form soft peaks. I find an electric mixer better for this than hand-beating. It takes a few minutes so while you've got the mixer running, you can beat together the egg yolks, ricotta and sugar in the other bowl. Add both almond and all purpose flour, then when the egg whites are ready, fold them into the egg yolk mixture. Pour into the prepared dish. Arrange fruit on top, pushing them gently into the batter.  
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes until set. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for at least 20 minutes or serve at room temperature.

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