A clafoutis saved Thanksgiving Day at our house this year. While pies were being “oohed” and “aahed” over and providing the grand finale at houses across the country, our pie was a flop. Literally, said pie (a vegan pumpkin pie recipe found online) never set up as it should have and it was looking as if our feast of thankfulness, would end on a not-so-sweet note. Was I ever sorry that I broke one of the cardinal rules of dinner parties: don’t use an untried recipe! To add insult to injury, College Girl has been baking pies with her friends at UC and was so excited to please her dad with a new twist on his beloved pumpkin pie…
But have no fear, a favorite past issue of Bon Appetit and two very plump and perfect Korean pears from Melissa’s World Variety Produce came to the rescue!
First of all, what is a clafoutis? A clafoutis is a baked French dessert of black cherries arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a flan-like batter, dusted with powdered sugar and served warm. It originated in the Limousin region of France and traditionally contains the pits of the cherries and, according to Wikipedia, when other kinds of fruit are used instead of cherries, the dish is properly called a flaugnarde. Clafoutis sounds pleasantly musical compared to flaugnarde, so I’m sticking with it π
Secondly, if you’ve never eaten or cooked with Asian pears, you absolutely must! They are crunchy, juicy, and sweet – a mouthwatering combination of apple and pear. There are 25 varieties of Asian pears – the three that I had were large softball-size, golden Korean Shingo, known for their delicately tangy, perfumed flavor, high water content and crisp, crunchy texture (think jicama). They’re delicious eaten raw, whole or in salads, and their firm, crunchy texture means they don’t turn mushy when cooked or baked like regular pears have a tendency to do. Asian pears are in season, so pick some up this weekend!
- 3/4 cup sweet white wine* such as Riesling
- 2 Asian pears cored, cut lengthwise into thin slices
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 cup milk* do not use low-fat or nonfat
- 1/4 cup 1/2 stick butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
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Combine wine and pears in a large bowl; let stand 10 minutes. Drain pears, reserving 1/4 cup wine.
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Butter 9-inch diameter glass pie dish. Beat eggs, sugar and salt in medium bowl, to blend. Whisk in flour. Add milk, butter, vanilla and reserved 1/4 cup wine; whisk until smooth. Arrange pears in prepared baking dish. Pour batter over pears.
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Bake clafoutis until center is set and top is golden, about 55 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. The original recipe called for topping the clafoutis with a generous sprinkling of sifted powder sugar - preferring less sweetness and the allure of fresh fruit, I skipped this step.
*I used 2010 Cotes de Tablas Blanc - always use wine worthy of drinking in your cooking and baking - this lovely wine is a blend of four estate-grown white RhΓ΄ne varietals: Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Marsanne. We bought a case on our last visit to Tablas Creek, our favorite Paso Robles vineyard.
*Instead of milk, I substituted fresh whipped cream that had been intended for the pumpkin pie, the custard was deliciously reminiscent of flan.
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, November 1997.
Angie@Angie's Recipesa
Love clafoutis! This is a perfect dessert for my husband too as he loves pears.
Angie
Jamie
I’ve been dreaming of clafoutis lately and should be making one soon. I love them! Yours looks fabulous – husband would go nuts for the pear clafoutis. And how perfect for Thanksgiving! I don’t know, I think we all need to change it up a bit. I love a good pie but there are so many fabulous desserts…. like clafoutis!
Carolyn
I can see why that lovely clafoutis saved the day!
Emily @ Life on Food
I first tried Asian pears in college. I have been loving them ever since. Sorry to hear about your sad pie on Thanksgiving. This lovely dessert hopefully made up for it. Beautiful!
Lori Lynn
Hi Priscilla – great idea, Korean pear clafoutis! We love all things Korean. I was just at the Korean market today. This is an inspired dish. Not surprised it saved the day.
LL
Kiri W.
Wow, what a delicious looking dish! I love Asian pears, i bet their subtle flavor would lend itself wonderfully to this dish. π
Lora @cakeduchess
Your pear clafoutis is stunning. The photo of the pears alone is just gorgeous. I will bookmark this to make next Thanksgiving instead of my usual pies. π
Magic of Spice
Sorry about your pie, but I would much rather have this wonderful clafoutis π
kita
Oh I had a pumpkin cheesecake never set once for Thanksgiving and I was heartbroken! This clafoutis looks like a beautiful hero though!
Jay V. Carrano
Clafoutis is a lost art. I am suprised to see it in orange county. I’m impressed, working in a french bistro, we still didn’t attempt this. Can you re create the clafoutis again? stay in touch through my facebook page. Thank you
Clark Griffin
If using other fruits, how much should be used?
Priscilla
Hi Clark – A 9″ pie takes about a quart of fruit (4 cups) or pie filling so it would be the same for a clafoutis if you’re using a 9″ pie pan. I would plan on 4-6 cups to be safe. Enjoy!
NANCY
I made this desert and it was delicious. I did use half and half milk then used almond flavoring instead of vanilla. It looks just like the picture.
Priscilla
Hi Nancy – I’m so glad you liked the recipe π Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!