Raspberry and Blueberry Almond Clafouti
With utmost respect for Julia Child (her cherry clafouti is an iconic recipe), I am excited to give this easy French dessert a brain healthy makeover.
A clafouti, after all, starts with one of the most brain-healthy foods: in-season berries or whole, unpitted cherries. Both berries and cherries are packed with flavonoids, plant nutrients that fend off oxidative stress in the brain. Berries are so good for your brain that I recommend eating a serving (about ½ cup) of berries each day. Any dessert that provides a handful of berries in each serving is a welcome addition to a diet that fends off age-related cognitive decline.
Plus, the clafouti technique is a piece of cake. The fruit goes into a gratin dish. A flan-like batter (that you whiz together in a blender) gets poured overtop. The clafouti poofs up as it bakes, like a Dutch baby pancake, and then collapses into a custard-like cross between a pudding and a cake.
Clafouti, but better for you
The problem with traditional clafouti, however, is that it’s over-the-top high in sugar and saturated fat from the butter, cream, eggs, and white sugar that go into the batter. A traditional clafouti is often drenched in even more heavy cream at the table. A brain healthy dietary pattern, as you may recall, is less than 5% saturated fat yet rich in monounsaturated fats (like you get from nuts and olive oil). Sugar is not completely off the table, but it’s better for your metabolic health (and your brain health) to consume only small amounts and always with plenty of fiber to slow absorption.
Giving clafouti a brain-friendly fat profile
Making this traditional decadent French dessert fit into my brain-healthy guidelines was easier than I imagined. That’s because the cornerstone of the recipe is fresh, seasonal berries bursting with flavor. (Although you can also make a very good clafouti using frozen berries.) So the first adjustment I made to Julia’s recipe was to increase the amount of fruit. Make this with strawberries in June, blueberries and raspberries in July, and blackberries and cherries in late summer. The sweetness of the berries really shines when the topping is not quite so rich. For the batter, I kept the number of eggs the same to assure it has the signature flan-like consistency. But I swapped out the milk, butter, cream and white flour for brain-healthier choices: almond milk, almond flour, and a touch of olive oil to grease the pan.
Swapping out sugar for monkfruit
To get the sugar content down, I did some creative swapping. Julia’s original recipe calls for ⅓ cup white sugar in the batter, another ⅓ cup sprinkled on top, and then more sugar—powdered, this time—as it goes from the oven to the table. Instead, I employed monkfruit, a non-nutritive (meaning zero calorie) sweetener made from a small round fruit native to China. Monkfruit is very sweet, thanks to its mogroside content, but it does not elicit the same rise in blood sugar and insulin levels you’d get with granulated sugar. That’s because mogrosides don’t get absorbed in the upper part of the gastro-intestinal tract. By the time they make it down to the lower intestine, gut microbes get to work metabolizing the glucose so that very little gets absorbed.
While monkfruit is a fairly new non-nutritive sweetener to American consumers, with just a handful of studies to show less negative impact on blood glucose and insulin, it seems to be perfectly safe. (According to the Food and Drug Administration, monkfruit extract is categorized as GRAS: generally recognized as safe.) On the plus side, when formulated in combination with erythritol (another GRAS non-nutritive sweetener), it can be substituted 1:1 for white sugar in recipes. And, unlike other non-nutritive sweeteners, it doesn’t have an unpleasant aftertaste.
Almonds add crunch and more brain-friendly fats
Instead of leaning on sugar to give the clafouti Julia’s crackly, crunchy topping, I scattered it with sliced almonds and just a spoonful of optional sugar. The result is a berry-filled dessert that feels decadent (it still retains its custard-like texture) but isn’t overly sweet. I like it straight from the oven to get the full effect of the bursting warm berries. But it’s also good warm, at room temperature, or straight from the fridge.
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- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups berries such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or a mix
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond or cashew milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup finely ground almond flour
- 3 tablespoons monkfruit sweetener with erythritol
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup sliced almonds toasted (see note)
- 1 teaspoon coarse granulated sugar optional
Ingredients
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- Preheat your oven to 350ºF with a rack set in the center position. Rub a 2-quart baking dish with oil. Add the berries and spread out in an even layer; set aside.
- In a blender, combine (in order) the eggs, milk, vanilla and almond extracts, flour, monkfruit sweetener, and salt. Blend on high until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping the sides of the blender halfway if needed. Pour the batter over the berries and sprinkle with sliced almonds and coarse sugar (if using).
- Bake until the custard puffs up and starts to brown, the center is slightly wobbly but the rest is set, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Let the clafouti cool for about 15 minutes before cutting into wedges or serving as rounded scoops. Or, serve at room temperature or cold, right from the fridge. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
When shopping for monkfruit sweetener, look for it in combination with erythritol ( such as Lakanto brand) for 1:1 swapping in recipes.
Make this in a 2-quart oval, square, or round baking dish.
Toast the almonds while you prepare the other ingredients. Place on a rimmed baking sheet in a 300ºF oven and toast until a shade darker, about 10 minutes.
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