FRENCH BERRY CLAFOUTIS
As I was growing up, berry season was one of my favorite seasons. Not only did I enjoy eating them, but harvesting was just as rewarding. My grandparents used to live high up in the mountains of the Black Forest and in the summertime, they would take my siblings, my cousins, and I to the forest to pick wild blueberries. They would tie a bucket around our waists and then we were free to venture between the blueberry bushes that were covered with plenty of sweet and ripe berries ready to be picked. Oma and Opa were around somewhere picking berries themselves and, depending on who joined the berry-picking party, us kids would play a memorizing game called “I’m packing my suitcase and bringing…” while filling our buckets. The game goes like this: you have to say the above sentence and fill in what you would bring and then the next person has to repeat the sentence, whatever you added to the suitcase, and then add a new item. The game continues until someone fails to remember all of the items that were put in the suitcase. Other times when it was just me with my grandparents, I loved entering the magic fairy world of the forest and daydreaming while filling my bucket with sweet delicious berries.
The taste of those berries was so much better than anything you could buy at the supermarket. This is why I really recommend that if you can’t pick your own berries to at least make sure to buy them when they’re in season from a local farmers’ market or fruit stand. It not only makes a huge difference in how they taste, but also in that they’re much higher in their nutritional value. Berries belong among the healthiest foods you can eat. They are high in fiber, low in calories, and especially rich in antioxidants and vitamin C. All those nutrients help reducing oxidative stress as well as lowering blood pressure and cholesterol.
We love adding fresh ripe berries to as many dishes as we can. This recipe for French clafoutis originally asks for cherries, but it also works great with any stone fruit or berry that’s in season. It’s a great alternative to pancakes or waffles and so easy to put together. I made the recipe with almond and coconut flour to make it gluten and grain free. I also added honey instead of refined sugar and homemade yoghurt to make it lactose free.
SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup blanched almond flour
1 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups homemade yoghurt (see recipe below)
1/3 cup honey
3 eggs
seeds of one vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
sea salt
1 pint (12 oz.) fresh ripe berries like blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, or cherries
Tools: Stand mixer or Hand mixer
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven at 350°F / 170°C.
Grease a deep baking dish with butter.
Separate the eggs.
Place the egg yolks in a large bowl. Add the yoghurt honey, almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, vanilla seeds (or vanilla extract) and stir well to combine.
Rinse the blackberries and pat dry. Add the blackberries to the dough and stir to combine.
Add the egg whites and salt to a deep mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment of the hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Carefully fold the egg whites under the dough.
Pour the dough into a deep baking dish and bake at 350°F / 170°C for 40 minutes until a wooden skewer stick comes out clean.
You can cover the baking dish with aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes to prevent it from turning too dark. Serve lukewarm with or without fermented heavy whipping cream.
HOMEMADE YOGHURT
For this recipe, I use a yoghurt maker to ensure that the fermentation temperature is accurate. Here are two options - I actually have one of each since the whole family enjoys the yoghurt and I make a double batch at once.
Tools:
yoghurt maker with one large container
yoghurt maker with single glass jars
INGREDIENTS
1 quart whole or skim milk
1 pint heavy whipping cream ( If you want it with less fat, you can also replace heavy whipping cream with milk)
7 oz SCD legal yoghurt or other yoghurt starter
note: For strict SCD, it is recommended to avoid yoghurt starter containing bifidus.
INSTRUCTIONS
Place the milk and heavy whipping cream in a saucepan and heat at high heat until bubbles appear on the edges. (Do not boil!) Stir often to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Remove the pot from the stove and let cool until it has reached room temperature or below (about 64-77° F or 20-25° C).
Spoon the yoghurt starter into a mixing bowl and add one cup of the cooled milk. Mix well until a thick paste forms.
Add the yoghurt/milk mixture to the saucepan and stir well to distribute evenly.
Fill into yoghurt maker containers and place in the yoghurt maker machine. Make sure to follow the manual of your specific yoghurt maker. The mixture must ferment for at least 24 hours to ensure that all of the lactose has been broken down by beneficial bacteria.
Take out of the machine and refrigerate for at least two hours before using. Keep refrigerated!
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My name is Ulrike. I created this website to share my dietary approach to natural healing and delicious sugar, grain, and lactose-free recipes. I found that, provided with the right nutrition, the body itself is one of the greatest healers.
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