The blueberries are all gone for this year at the blueberry farm but I had an idea to add some of the frozen ones to a pear clafoutis from the book On Rue Tatin that I reviewed last month. A “clafoutis” is a French baked cherry dessert, where the batter is poured over the arranged cherries. Technically when you substitute other fruits the dessert has a different (French) name but this book still refers to it as a clafoutis.
Separate three eggs first so they can come to room temperature. The first time I made this, I accidentally skipped the part about whipping the egg whites to form peaks and it did not turn out well. Also, I used butter and flour to grease the baking pan and it stuck terribly, so this time I greased it because I didn’t want a second dud clafoutis. Here’s a picture of the one I did incorrectly and then the one where I followed the directions so you can see the difference in folding in whipped egg whites.
I whipped my egg whites in a steel bowl so I added 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar to help them peak. They don’t look pure white since I used the natural coconut palm sugar. The original recipe used three pears instead of two pears and the blueberries. You can substitute fruit.
Blueberry and Pear Clafoutis
2 pears – peeled, cored, and cut in sixths
1/2 C blueberries
1/3 C honey
4 eggs
3/4 C flour
1/4 C plus 1 T coconut palm sugar
Pinch of sea salt
1 C milk
4 T melted and cooled butter
Separate three of the eggs and melt the butter; set aside.
Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 9”-10” springform pan. Arrange the pear slices and blueberries in an even pattern in the baking dish. Drizzle the fruit evenly with honey.
In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the milk, 3 egg yolks, and 1 whole egg. Whisk the wet ingredients, then gradually whisk in the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter. Quickly but thoroughly whisk in the melted butter.
In another bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Continue beating in 1 tablespoon sugar, then stop to avoid over-beating. Fold the egg whites into the batter, then pour the batter over the pears. Bake 30 minutes until puffed and golden. Serve warm and dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with cream.
