I have a little confession. I LOVE cherries. As a child, I used to eat bowlfuls of cherries in the summer. Unfortunately, much to my chagrin, I am allergic to most stone fruit, including cherries.

One workaround to get around my cherry allergy is to eat them cooked, or baked, in this instance, in a cherry clafoutis. Because I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease, I also steadfastly avoid wheat, gluten and dairy. My version of cherry clafoutis is dairy-free, gluten-free and requires a minimum amount of natural sweetener (maple syrup).  It is absolutely delicious—and does not give you a blood sugar spike and crash the way that a traditional clafoutis might.

In the summer, I love to serve (and eat!) chilled cherry clafoutis…the texture is reminiscent of a cherry cheesecake!

Enjoy!

Cherry Clafoutis
Serves 4 to 6

1 pint (2 cups) sweet cherries, pitted and halved
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed organic lemon juice

4 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, ideally, pasture-raised, organic and/or free range
2 tablespoons organic maple syrup, Grade A, Robust Taste
1-1/4 cups organic, unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon finely minced gingerroot
Pinch Celtic sea salt

1/4 cup coconut flour, sifted

Prepare separately:
1 pasture-raised egg, egg white only
Pinch of cream of tartar (apx. scant 1/4 teaspoon)

Preheat the oven to 350º.

In a medium bowl, combine the pitted cherries and lemon juice. Let marinate 15 minutes or so.

Grease a 10-inch round baking pan or a 1-1/2 to 2-quart souffle dish with butter or olive oil. Arrange the cherries evenly on the bottom of the pan or souffle dish.

To a small stainless steel mixing bowl, add the egg white and cream of tartar. Using an electric hand mixer, beat egg white until stiff peaks form (this is when the peak on the egg white surface holds its shape). Set aside.

In a separate and larger mixing bowl, combine the eggs and maple syrup with an electric mixer at high speed, until well mixed, apx. 2 minutes.

Add the coconut milk, lemon zest, minced ginger, vanilla and Celtic sea salt, beating well. Slowly add the coconut flour, a little at a time to the egg mixture, while beating with the hand mixer.

Using a large silicone spatula, gently fold the whipped egg whites (by hand) into the egg mixture until evenly blended.

Pour the entire mixture over the cherries.

Place clafoutis on center rack and bake 25 minutes. If the top is overly brown in any area, tent aluminum foil over the browned portion. Turn the baking pan or souffle dish in the other direction for even baking. Bake another 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

When the clafoutis is done, it will be puffed and golden-brown; a knife inserted in the center will come out clean (without any residual batter on it).

Place soufflé dish on a wire rack or trivet. Let cool and allow the clafoutis to set, apx. 30 mins. to 1 hour.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled. It is delicious all three ways!

My version is both gluten-free, dairy free and low sugar.  I swap out regular white all-purpose flour for gluten-free tiger nut flour (you can also use fine-ground almond flour or coconut flour). Instead of milk or cream, I use coconut milk (I recommend using canned coconut milk because it contains no added sugars and has a thicker, creamier texture than packaged boxes of coconut milk. I use a minimum amount of natural sweetener—raw honey in this case; I did not need much for this clafoutis because the pears were naturally sweet.

The end result is light, airy and custardy. Délicieux!
 

Pear Clafoutis
Serves 4

3 ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and cut into thin, half-moon slices
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 large large eggs, ideally, pasture-raised, organic and/or free range
1-1/2 tablespoons raw honey
1-1/4 cups full-fat coconut milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
Pinch Celtic sea salt
1/4 cup tiger nut flour, almond flour or coconut flour, sifted

Prepare separately:
1 pasture-raised egg, egg white only
Pinch of cream of tartar (apx. scant 1/4 teaspoon)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In a stainless steel mixing bowl, combine the pear slices and lemon juice.  Ideally, you would let them marinate at least 30 minutes. But if you skip this step, it’s fine.

Grease a 10-inch round baking pan or a 3-quart souffle dish with butter or olive oil. Transfer the pears to the baking pan or souffle dish and arrange evenly on the bottom of the pan or souffle dish.

In a small stainless steel mixing, mix the egg white with cream of tartar with an electric mixer, beating until stiff peaks form (this is when the peak on the egg white surface holds its shape). Set aside.

To a separate large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and raw honey with an electric mixer at high speed, until well mixed, apx. 2 minutes.

Add the coconut milk, lemon zest, vanilla and Celtic sea salt, beating well. Add the tiger nut flour, a little at a time to the egg mixture, while beating with the hand mixer.

Using a large silicone spatula, gently fold the whipped egg whites into the egg mixture until evenly blended.

Pour the entire mixture over the pears.

Place clafoutis on center rack and bake 30 minutes. If the top is overly brown in any area, tent aluminum foil over the browned portion. Turn the baking pan or souffle dish in the other direction for even baking. Bake another 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

When the clafoutis is done, it will be puffed and golden, and a knife inserted in the center will come out clean (without any residual batter on it).

Serve warm (highly recommended!) or t room temperature.