Funny name, perfect pre-Thanksgiving brunch
Thanksgiving is coming, y’all. It is *right here*. And in all the planning and cooking and scrambling around we do to get ready for the main meal, I find it a challenge to make sure we have something light and easy to eat for breakfast or brunch. I also want it to feel fancy for guests we might have. So I was delighted to stumble onto an old-style flan-like French pastry called Clafoutis (pronounced, bizarrely, cla-foo-tee). It’s traditionally made with black cherries and when made with it’s original ingredients is quite the cholesterol-laden calorie bomb. Not quite what I’m looking for! But it’s possible to lighten this delightful dish up and make it tick all my boxes. Made this way, it’s a lightly-sweet, fruit laden pie/flan hybrid that feels light and rich all at once. And if you can operate a blender and wield a whisk then you have all the skills you need to impress your family with a French delight for their pre-Thanksgiving enjoyment!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
6 ounces silken tofu
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extrac
1/4 cup milk or nondairy milk, divided (I used soy milk)
1/2 cup sugar
8 ounces fresh or frozen black cherries, without pits -or- the fresh or frozen fruit of your choice
powdered sugar (if desired)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil a pie dish. Place the fruit in the lightly oiled dish and make sure they’re evenly distributed.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and cornstarch. Set aside.
In a blender, add the tofu, vanilla and almond extracts and half the milk. Blend until creamy.
Add the blended ingredients to the bowl with the flour mixture with the remaining milk. Whisk together until it’s just evenly mixed- avoid over mixing.
Pour the batter into the pie dish, taking care to keep the fruit evenly distributed throughout the pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until it feels spongy to the touch. Serve warm. Pair with a fruit salad it you’re inclined, but it’s great with a mug of coffee all on its lonesome.
I made mine a smidge differently than the recipe- firstly, I tripled it (go big or go home, right?) and then I made a chocolate chip Clafoutis and a cherry-chocolate chip in addition to the cherry. I had a lot of people coming over and I’d rather have plenty, plus, you know, CHOCOLATE. I also made mine the night before, stowed them in the fridge, and heated them briefly in the microwave topped with plastic wrap to get them just warm enough to serve them. Everyone went CRAZY for them- one of them is an avowed tofu hater, and two more are not fans. But most folks had seconds, and everyone loved them!
I will absolutely be making more for Christmas breakfast, but I think I may experiment a little and use blackberries, or preserves to swirl through the batter before cooking. I also will probably refrigerate them in their re-cooked batter stage and just pop them in the oven for Christmas morning. So easy! So versatile! So happy I gave these a try!
Black Cherry Clafoutis Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 6 ounces silken tofu
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 cup milk or nondairy milk divided (I used soy milk)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 8 ounces fresh or frozen black cherries without pits -or- the fresh or frozen fruit of your choice
- powdered sugar if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Lightly oil a pie dish. Place the fruit in the lightly oiled dish and make sure they're evenly distributed.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- In a blender, add the tofu, vanilla and almond extracts and half the milk. Blend until creamy.
- Add the blended ingredients to the bowl with the flour mixture with the remaining milk.
- Whisk together until it's just evenly mixed- avoid over mixing.
- Pour the batter into the pie dish, taking care to keep the fruit evenly distributed throughout the pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until it feels spongy to the touch. Serve warm.
- Pair with a fruit salad it you're inclined, but it's great with a mug of coffee all on its lonesome.
This sounds super yummy!
I have made clafoutis before but not with tofu. I would like to try this.
Wow I’d love to try this. I have gotten some frozen veggies from WF, their store brand, and will check out these cherries – nice!
As I was reading your post, I was wondering how you were going to lighten it up. I never expected the secret ingredient to be tofu!