Here’s a new post from someone that I haven’t featured here before, it’s for a gluten-free and grain-free Pear Almond Clafoutis from Sylvie Shirazi of Gourmande in the Kitchen. As always, when I see posts that are grain-free, I get giddy with excitement and share, share, share.
I was lucky enough to live in France when I was in my early 20′s and the clafoutis was something that I discovered on our daily trips to our local boulangerie pâtisserie. Between the daily doses of pain au chocolate and the clafoutis (the pain au chocolate was obviously before my celiac diagnosis), I felt like I was very well versed in what made a good pastry and what made me fat :) I’ve been back to France once since — in 2009 on a working vacation. For obvious reasons, I didn’t do the bakery thing nearly as often as the first time, but I did manage to find a gluten-free clafoutis — it was the first one I had since my first trip.
If you haven’t experienced the clafoutis, Sylvie has done a fantastic job describing it:
A cross between a custard, a thick pancake, and a flan; it’s neither complicated nor intricate but it’s absolutely irresistible.
She’s come up with a brilliant gluten and grain-free version of this French classic that will surely impress both you and your non GF friends and family.
“This past weekend I had a yearning for clafoutis. My stomach rumbles at more or less regular intervals at the thought of this classic dessert that every French grandmother has in her repertoire.
Clafoutis is one of those rustic desserts that defies classification. A cross between a custard, a thick pancake, and a flan; it’s neither complicated nor intricate but it’s absolutely irresistible. In essence, it amounts to a moist crêpe-like batter studded with fruit.
What makes it great isn’t the complexity of preparation or presentation but rather the pure unpretentious flavors of the few ingredients it contains…”
