[Beautiful, elegant and impressive, this Berry Clafoutis is vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg free, soy-free, nut-free, yeast-free, and low glycemic. Suitable for Stage 2 and beyond on an anti-candida diet.]
It’s the July 1st/4th weekend–which means celebrations! We celebrate Canada Day here north of the 42nd parallel, while our American cousins to the south will be partying around Independence Day soirées in a couple days. Either way, it means a sunshine-y, food-y, drink-y and Red, White (and possibly also Blue) par-tay coming up!
Whether you’re in Canada or the US, it seems one of the ways to honor the holiday is to prep foods that showcase our flags’ colors, either red and white (Canada) or red, white and blue (US). Lucky for you, today’s Sugar-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free, Berry Clafoutis can be modified to reflect either one! I made mine with raspberries for the Canadian orientation, but simply sub half of those with blueberries for a ‘Murican vibe.
Clafoutis is a traditional French dessert made with lots of cream, eggs, flour and sugar. It’s sort of like a super-soft, sweet, crustless quiche. Here, through the miracle of aquafaba (ie the liquid from a can of chickpeas–yep!), I was able to recreate the lovely, pillowy custard almost perfectly, with just a hint of a crust beneath that forms from the flour added to the batter.
This clafoutis tastes much richer than it is, in fact. It’s perfect slightly warm or at room temperature. If you refrigerate it first, remove from the fridge and allow to return to room temperature before serving for best results. You could also dust with powdered sugar, top with a dollop of coconut whipped cream or drizzle with caramel sauce for a delicious and patriotic dessert.
One of the other certainties of the holiday weekend (unfortunately) is fireworks–which means my poor Girls will cower under a table somewhere (or, when she’s really stressed out, Elsie will sneak into the shower stall and lie down inside).
Unlike friends of ours who used to give their dogs tranquilizers for the occasion (!!), we prefer to find more natural means of comfort. The Thundershirt never worked for Elsie, but what does seem to help somewhat is simply allowing her to rest where she chooses and to stop by with a pat and hug every now and again. A soft folded towel on which to lie also seems to offer some comfort.
And, whenever possible, sharing the bounty of the weekend is a great way to distract her so that she can both enjoy the food and partake in the festivities of the holiday, too.
Wishing you all a great Canada Day, Independence Day (or weekend!)
Sugar-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Berry Clafoutis
Clafoutis is a simple yet elegant dessert that works equally well for dessert any day of the week. Change the appearance by playing with the berries, or use slices of stone fruit like peaches or nectarines instead.
aquafaba (chickpea cooking liquid) drained from one can of chickpeas (see instructions)
approximately 1/2 cup (120 ml) unsweetened almond, cashew, macadamia or other nondairy milk (except for rice milk, which is too thin)–see instructions
1/3 cup (65 g) whole millet, dry
1 Tbsp (15 ml) garfava or chickpea flour
1 Tbsp (15 ml) virgin coconut oil, preferably organic
1-1/2 tsp (7.5 ml) pure vanilla extract, preferably organic
3/4 tsp (3.5 ml) pure lemon extract or lemon flavoring
1/2 cup (120 ml) xylitol or coconut sugar
pinch fine sea salt
1 pint (250 ml) fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries or a combination, hulled, washed and gently blotted dry
Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Grease an 8 or 9 inch (20-22.5 cm) tart or pie plate with coconut oil.
Drain the aquafaba into a measuring cup. You will likely have between 2/3 cup (160 ml) and 1 cup (240 ml). Transfer to a small pot and boil over medium heat until the aquafaba is reduced to 1/2 cup (120 ml). You can check by boiling for 5-10 minutes, then pouring back into the measuring cup to see how much is left; continue until you reach 1/2 cup (120 ml)–if it’s off by a wee bit, don’t worry about it.
Add milk to the measuring cup until the total liquid reaches one cup (240 ml). Pour into the blender jug.
To the blender jug, add remaining ingredients except raspberries and blend until perfectly smooth and bubbly. Pour into the pan (it will be very loose). Don’t add the raspberries just yet!
Place the pan in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350F (180C). Bake for 18 minutes. Gently remove from the oven and scatter the raspberries evenly over the top. Return the pan to the oven and continue to bake until the clafoutis is puffed and dry on top but still slightly jiggly in the middle, another 20-25 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature before serving. Dust with powdered xylitol or serve with coconut cream if desired. (For powdered xylitol, whir about 2 Tbsp/30 ml xylitol in a coffee grinder until powdered). Makes 8-10 servings. Not suitable for freezing.
Suitable for: ACD Stage 2 and beyond; refined sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg free, soy-free, nut free, yeast-free, vegan, low glycemic.
“But Mum, you know we canines can’t have xylitol! And *gulp* what was that you said about fireworks? Excuse me as we head over to the powder room. . . . “.
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Wow aquafaba is such a miracle ingredient – the clafoutis sounds delicious. Hope you had a great Canada Day. My mum’s dog gets freaked out by fireworks or thunderstorms but because he lives outside she gives him a treat of letting him inside when there are loud noises outside!
That’s so funny about your mum’s dog! Chaser just barks at the door, but Elsie really suffers when there are fireworks, poor thing. Thanks for the Canada Day wishes, too–it was lovely, and quite relaxing (apart from the fireworks). 😉
Hi,
I’m just wondering how using this water squares with the notion that we soak our beans to remove certain enzymes and toxins that aren’t very nice to our digestive systems. All of a sudden this liquid that the beans have been soaking in is okay? I am confused 🙂
Such a great point, Jayne. Generally, I think of the soak water as the substance that has those enzyme inhibitors, phytates and the like–and that water is thrown away before cooking. This is the cooking water that occurs after that step. That said, most of the time we throw away the cooking water, too, and I imagine it might contain some of those substances as well. This is a chemistry question I don’t feel equipped to respond to–but what you say does make sense. I’m going to pose it to a group of my colleagues and see what comes of it! I did find that I had no problems consuming the aquafaba, but everyone is different. I will report back!! Thanks for pointing this out.
Thanks so much for your reply, and the extra research just below as well. I don’t assume that companies canning the beans do a presoak, but I will definitely soak my own, and then cook them with the plan to use that aquafaba. SO thrilled to have a possible alternative to egg replacer and chia seeds. I used to love clafoutis 🙂 You’re the best!
Yay! Hope you like the clafoutis! (Not identical to the traditional. . . but boy, it hit the spot for me. I used to love it, too!). 😀
I’ve got some more info, Jayne–and looks like we can relax about the aquafaba (unless someone is sensitive to it and legumes in general). Some phytates are actually apparently GOOD for us, according to Dr. Michael Greger, and can prevent osteoporosis as well as cancer! Here’s one of his videos on the topic: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/phytates-for-the-prevention-of-osteoporosis/ Hope that helps!
All I have to say is Wow! Tried this out yesterday evening in preparation for the sunday. I do not claim that there isn’t any gap there for improvements in terms of appearance yet all the same! It’s yummy!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much. 🙂