When you've eaten your fill of summer's fresh blueberries, make this blueberry clafoutis. Brimming with inky, sweet berries in a slightly sweet custard-like batter, this clafoutis is perfect for a lazy Saturday morning breakfast. Or, you can serve it as a light summer dessert, too. Like whole-grain blueberry muffins, it's a staple on our summer table.
Jump to Recipe | What is it? | Tips | Variations
What is a clafoutis?
A clafoutis is a French dessert that hovers between custard and cake. To make a clafoutis, you'll whisk eggs, milk, flour, and sugar to form a thin batter, pour it over fruit and let it bake until set.
Traditionally, a clafoutis is only made with sweet black cherries, and when you make the dish with other fruit, such as blueberries or pears, the dish is technically called flaugnarde. However, more recently, the term "clafoutis" is used more loosely both in France and beyond, to refer to both savory and sweet baked dishes made with this custard-like batter.
Baking tips
One of the biggest appeals of a blueberry clafoutis is that it's mercifully easy to make. In addition, as a fruit-heavy dish, it requires much less sugar than comparative desserts. While making the batter is simple and baking it is a cinch, there are a few tips you can follow to make sure it comes out right each time.
- Use a blender to make the batter. A smooth batter with no lumps is the key to a really nice clafoutis. And while you can make the batter by hand if you prefer, a blender ensures that all your ingredients come together smoothly.
- Butter your baking dish. otherwise, the batter will stick firmly to the pan and you'll need to soak it.
- Bake the clafoutis until set. If you insert a toothpick into the center of the clafoutis, you should see streaks of blueberry juice but no signs of wet batter.
Variations
Using all-purpose wheat flour. We favor cooking with einkorn flour, an ancient wheat variety with incredible flavor; however, you can use all-purpose wheat flour, but increase the milk to 1 ½ cups.
Gluten-free. To make this recipe for blueberry clafoutis gluten-free, try substituting an equal amount of your favorite all-purpose gluten-free flour, but increase the milk to 1 ½ cups.
Dairy-free. To make a dairy-free version, try substituting low-fat coconut milk for the whole milk, and grease your baking dish with coconut oil instead of butter.
Swap sweeteners. We use unrefined cane sugar which has a lovely sweetness with mineral-like undertones, but you can also use maple sugar or honey. If you use honey, decrease the milk in the recipe by 1 tablespoon.
Swap the fruit. Instead of blueberries, plums, sweet black cherries or apricots.
Swap the vanilla. Instead of vanilla, try adding noyaux (homemade almond extract) or freshly grated lemon peel.
