Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Apple or Pear Clafoutis (GAPS-legal, grain- and gluten-free)

This clafoutis recipe is a staple breakfast item in our house.  It is similar to a fruit custard, and is delicious with both pears and apples (I've used Granny Smith or Fuji apples).  It is also great when served with a side of bacon or sausage. Leftovers are great cold or warmed up.

Pear or Apple Clafoutis:
  • 4 large eggs
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ½ cup sour cream, creme fraiche, or full-fat coconut milk
  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter or unrefined coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup crispy almond* flour OR 3Tb coconut flour (almond flour tastes better, but coconut flour is good, too)
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • pinch of ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon Celtic sea salt
  • 3 large pears and/or apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (it's okay to leave the peel on the pears so long as it's not too thick)
  1. Butter an 8X8 glass dish, generously
  2. In a small saucepan, melt one stick of butter.  Then add honey and stir.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, sour cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla.  I like to use my immersion blender to mix it all up together, but you could certainly use a whisk or mixer instead.
  4. Add melted butter and honey to wet ingredients and whisk or blend.
  5. With the immersion blender running, add almond flour (or coconut flour) and whir until well-combined (or use mixer or whisk until smooth). Using the immersion blender is great because it further grinds the almond flour (which doesn't get particularly fine when I grind it in the food processor).
  6. Arrange the sliced fruit on the bottom of the pan, then pour the mixture over the top. (Note: the fruit will float up while it is cooking.)
  7. Bake at 325° for 45-55 minutes, until clafoutis is set in the center and the top is golden.
  8. Cool and serve.
*Crispy almonds are nuts that have been soaked in water with a little salt for 12-24 hours and then dried in the dehydrator until crispy (which usually takes about 24 hours at 155 degrees F in my Nesco dehydrator). Soaking the nuts neutralizes phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. Phytic acid blocks absorption of minerals such as calcium and magnesium; enzyme inhibitors make nuts hard to digest. I make a large batch of crispy nuts, grind them into flour in the food processor (don't grind too long or you will make almond butter instead of flour), and store the flour in the freezer. This way, the flour is always ready when I need it.

*Time-saving tips:
  • For a delicious and easy breakfast throughout the week, double this recipe and cook in either two 8X8 dishes or one 9X13 dish (it will of course take longer to cook in the bigger dish).  Once cooled slightly, scoop into individual glass dishes and store in the refrigerator.  On subsequent mornings, just pull out one of the small glass containers and eat cold (or re-heat in the toaster oven at 250 degrees for about 15-20 minutes). 
  • Since the oven will already be heated, you may as well throw in a pack of bacon, some egg muffins, baked bacon and eggs, or even a spaghetti squash for later in the week.  I abhor an empty oven, so I'm always adding more items once it is on.  Bacon bakes very well, especially if you put it on the bottom rack, and it also reheats well for later in the week.
This recipe is part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet,  and Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist!

    31 comments:

    Laura said...

    This looks delicious, and I agree... you might as well fill that oven up!

    Lauren said...

    I'm excited to try this, and I'm excited to find your blog! (oh, how giddy a good spreadsheet can make me!)
    I wasn't sure how else to contact you to say: there's an extra space at the end of the Elana's Pantry link URL that prevents it from working, and how did you get that Feedburner subscription set up? I'm trying to do that for my brand-spanking-new blog (letospassion.blogspot) but am stumped.

    Sarah Smith said...

    Hi Lauren,
    Thanks for letting me know about the broken link. As for the feedburner subscription, look here:
    http://www.bloggertricks.com/2008/01/how-to-add-email-subscription-form-to.html

    I'm excited to check out your blog!

    Lauren said...

    THANK YOU! All set; I'm looking forward to hearing from you too!

    janis said...

    This was easy, beautiful and tasted great.

    .ambre. @ LivingAsOfTheDay said...

    Thanks so much for posting this! I'm always looking for good breakfast ideas that everyone in our family can eat and those who don't "have" to eat it still enjoy it! :)

    Sara Sears said...

    I have made this recipe twice now!! It is amazing. I love it so much, I even use it as a dessert :) A little whipped fresh cream over the top and it reminds me of a fancy apple pie! Thank you so much for posting

    Sarah Smith said...

    Great, I am glad you like it! We also love it so much that we like to make it often. I have tweaked the recipe a bit over the last couple weeks, adding a pinch of nutmeg and decreasing the apples to 3 instead of 4. So you may want to try those changes the next time you make it. (I did update the recipe in the blog, so maybe you've already used the most current version).

    Jill said...

    Wow. this looks delicious! Thanks for such a great idea!

    Petra said...

    This sounds so yummy but we cant do nuts in our house...BOO.
    Have you tried using coconut flour instead?

    Sarah Smith said...

    Hi Petra - Yes, you could substitute 3 Tb coconut flour for the almond flour. If possible, also add 1/2 tsp almond extract. Or you could leave out the almond flour and coconut flour altogether. It is tasty that way, too.

    Natalie said...

    mmm, this was delicious. thanks so much for sharing. am also going to try with coconut flour, and indeed without.

    Sonia said...

    We tried this today and LOVED it! We used coconut flour because that's what we had on hand and I think we will stick with it, it was just that good! Thanks for the recipe.

    Sarah Smith said...

    You're welcome, Sonia!

    Bethany W said...

    Do you have any secrets in making creme fraiche? I make my own yogurt using milk, but I'm confused how making "yogurt" with cream will yield something liquidy instead of reeeeeeally thick yogurt.

    Which makes me ponder: could I just use yogurt in this recipe?

    Sarah Smith said...

    Yes, you could absolutely use yogurt in this recipe! I've made cultured cream using kefir grains, and it works great. I've never used yogurt starter, though. One thing I know for sure: if you use raw milk to make yogurt, it will be very runny.

    Jo said...

    Just made this with peaches and nectarines - really good!

    Lauren said...

    Just did this with prune plums - very nice :)
    This was what brought me to your blog in the first place, and I'm still coming back for it!

    Kerri said...

    This was so delicious, we didn't know what to do with ourselves! We used only a teaspoon of honey because we are so sensitive to sweet now and it was plenty for us...mmmmm. We are just past GAPS intro (did a few months of full GAPS prior) with our 3.5 year old and we are so thankful for your wonderful blog. Thank you so much!

    Sarah Smith said...

    Oh, that's great Karen. I'm glad you liked it! I always make a double or triple batch because we tend to snark it down too!

    Becky @ BoysRuleMyLife said...

    This was very good! Thanks for the recipe! Will definitely be making again (and doubling!) :) YUMMMM....

    Eva said...

    I absolutely love this recipe! I have already made it several times and it always turns out great. And so easy to make too! Thank you so much for this wonderful addition to my GAPS diet, it is one of the best things I eat at the moment, it feels like a real treat :-) And I love your pumpkin pie clafoutis recipe just as much...

    Bentwoodbands said...

    Just made this for breakfast and it was so good, all of the kids (9, 7, and 2) gobbled it up - next time I will do a double batch. I subbed 12 drops of stevia for the honey and used coconut milk because that is what we had on hand. Oh and I agree, this would be a great dessert with some whipped cream!! Thank you!!

    Sarah Smith said...

    You're welcome! I'm glad your family enjoyed it! I also typically make a double batch, because it does get gobbled up so quickly.

    Gisele said...

    Thanks for another great recipe! I made it with apples, doubling the recipe, and was concerned about the amount of butter that seemed to be boiling while baking. However, once it settled and firmed up in the fridge overnight (of course, I ate it warm the first night, yum!)it was perfect! My husband added un-whipped cream and enjoyed it a lot! Can't wait to try it with pears or other fruit!

    Anonymous said...

    Could I sub white rice flour for the almond? I don't have any almond flour left... :(

    Sarah Smith said...

    Yes, that should work fine. You may need to reduce the amount a bit.

    Hibber said...

    I've made the apple clafoutis and pear clafoutis (and pumpkin twice) and last time I made cherry clafouti using this recipe. (Clafouti is traditionally made with cherries). I added half a bag of thawed cherries, halved. They don't rise to the top like the apples do so they should go on top of the batter rather than below. All the clafoutis are devoured and a big hit with my daughter. I will also be making double batches of these on the weekend. Thanks!

    Sarah Smith said...

    Great, Hilary! I'm glad you are all enjoying the recipe!

    Anonymous said...

    I was just wondering if I could use ghee instead of butter? How many grams are the blocks of butter you use? Thanks

    Sarah Smith said...

    Yes, I'm sure you could use ghee instead of butter. 1 stick of butter is 1/2 cup.