Apple Clafoutis – A Delightful Apple Custard Treat

Breakfast, Desserts, Fruit - Sweet & Savory
Apple clafoutis is a light apple dessert with chopped apples and a semi-sweet custard | mjskitchen.com

October is National Apple Month and what a month it’s been for great apples! Wanting to give a new apple recipe a try, I decided on an apple clafoutis. I chose the clafoutis because Bobby and I both love custard type dishes and fruit, and, it’s a dish I’ve never made.

This apple clafoutis is not a traditional French clafoutis which, from what I found, is made with cream and sugar. It’s a bit lighter in that it’s made with 2% milk, a little brown sugar to coat the apples, and maple syrup in place of sugar for the egg mixture.

Feedback on the first apple clafoutis, made with 2 eggs and 2 Tbsp. maple syrup, was “good”, but we both wanted a little more custard and a touch more sweetness. For the second one I added a third egg and another tablespoon maple syrup. Texture and sweetness were just what we were looking for. It was a keeper. Just to make sure I made a third one with the same results. It disappeared as quickly as the others.

This apple clafoutis is such an easy dish to make. You can throw it together in about 15 – 20 minutes, then bake it for 35 minutes. We enjoy this apple clafoutis for dessert, but have found that it makes a nice warm breakfast on a cool morning.

Apple Clafoutis

A lighter version of an Apple Clafoutis-a light custard dessert/breakfast with baked apples #clafoutis #apple #custard @mjskitchen
A Light Apple Clafoutis Recipe
Prep
15 mins
Cook
35 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 
This delightful custard dish can be served as a dessert or breakfast.  A nice way to celebrate your favorite crispy fall apples.


“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.

Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: French
Yields: 6 servings
Recipe Author: MJ of MJ’s Kitchen
Ingredients
  • 2 medium apples*, sliced or cubed
  • 1/4 heaping tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup unbleached flour*, sifted
  • 3/4 cup milk or milk substitute*
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375º F.
  2. Slice or cube the apples and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with the cinnamon then the brown sugar. Set aside.
  3. Add the two 1 Tbsp. slices of butter to a baking dish and place in oven until melted. (Be careful not to burn it.) Remove from oven. Set aside.
  4. Whisk together the eggs. Add the maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt.

  5. Alternately add the milk and the sifted flour into the egg mixture until all has been incorporated.
  6. Spread the apples and any juice that has accumulated in the bowl across the bottom of the dish with the melted butter.
  7. Pour the egg mixture over the apples.
  8. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350º F and cook for another 20 minutes. Gently shake the dish. If the center jiggles, bake for another 5 minutes.
  9. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
  10. If desired, you can sift powdered sugar on the top before serving.
  11. If you have leftovers, reheat in the microwave for 1 minute or serve cold.

Kitchen Notes

Apples – For the best finished texture of firm, not mushy apples, start with crisp apples. For a sweeter dish, use sweet apples. We personally like a sweet, but tart apple.

 

Sliced or Cubed – Sliced apples make a prettier dish, but it’s harder to cut into serving size pieces.  Because of that, I usually chop the apples.

 

This apple clafoutis was made with almond flour to create a GF custard. mjskitchen.comFlour: Gluten-Free Adjustment – A friend of mine is gluten-free (GF) so I attempted a GF version by substituting the unbleached flour with almond flour. Even though it still had a great flavor, I, personally was not fond of the texture. It was rather grainy as you can see in the picture to the right.

 

Milk – This recipe works with almost any milk or milk substitute.  However, rice milk is too thin and doesn’t work well for baked goods.  I’ve used 2 or 3 different milks / milk substitutes and have found very little difference in taste or texture.

 

If you’ve been buying apples like I have this fall, you really should use a couple of them to try out this apple clafoutis. It is so easy to make and was a delight to serve to family and friends and, to wake up to in the morning with my morning tea.

A lighter version of an Apple Clafoutis #clafoutis #apple #custard @mjskitchen

If you are looking for more apple recipes to enjoy this fall, check out this Collection of Sweet & Savory Apple Recipes.

Apricot Clafoutis - A delightful custard type dish with fresh apricot and a touch of sweetness. | mjskitchen.com

During the early summer when the apricot are ripe, make an Apricot Clafoutis (Flaugnarde) – different but quite delicious.

61 Comments

  1. Good one! thanks for your contributions. Cheers

  2. YUMMY!!!! I made this for dessert tonight and it was sooooo goooood! I had one pear and one apple that needed to be used so – Voila! It’s not terribly sweet, a good thing, so you don’t feel so guilty eating it. I’m excited because I now have another way to use up uneaten fruit without too much guilt. lol

    • YAY!!! Bobby said the exact same thing! Not too sweet, so very little guilt. I make this all of the time now with apples, apricots, blueberries or cherries. You have to try cherries.So good! My favorites are cherries and apple.

  3. My husband would kiss my feet if I made this for him. We both love apple desserts and this looks absolutely heavenly, M.J.! Maybe I’ll surprise him soon with this! Thanks for sharing!

    • My husband gives me a big kiss every time I make this for him. He loves it! I hope you and your husband loves it as much as we do. Wishing you a Happy New Year!!!

  4. What a like and delicious fall treat.

  5. “Delightful” is right, MJ! This looks sooo good. A few years ago I prepared a clafoutis that turned out to taste more like scrambled eggs with some fruit in it. I played with the recipe until I got something far tastier but never went back to that well. Now, this is a different story completely. I’m going to make this — and soon. With apple season in full steam, this seems like one of the best ways to take advantage. Thanks, MJ.

  6. Sheila Fuller

    My kind of recipe – easy to make, ingredients I always have on hand, and absolutely delicious. I had to share it with my neighbors.

  7. I’ve made both a cherry and peach clafoutis, but apple sounds even better! Perfect easy autumn dessert

  8. Such a delicious way to celebrate apple season! Easy and tasty! Pinned!

  9. This recipe looks great, but I need to make it for a much larger crowd (for fellowship at church). Can I multiply the ingredients and make this in a large rectangular baking dish?

    • Thanks S Perkins!!! I just look through the recipe again and I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t just double it and put it in the bigger dish. Depending on the depth of the dish, you might need to cook it longer, maybe 45 minutes. The dish I used was about 1.5″ depth. Please let me know how it works and I’ll add your results to the post. Thanks again.

  10. To be honest, I’ve never had this dish before. Looks very hearty and delicious. It makes me wonder if it taste like our apple pie, MJ. Hmm, I have to try your recipe to get rid of some of my ignorance. Hahaha. I hope you had a wonderful birthday, MJ. 🙂

    • Thanks So much Ray! It’s quite different from MY apple pie, but I make a traditional one. Not sure how you may apple pie but if it uses a custard, it might be very similar. Hope you get a chance to make it. Thanks so much for the birthday wish my friend!!!! 🙂

      • Yeah I think the use of eggs is what make the difference. I’m sorry, I meant “our” as in our American apple pie and I’m sure when you make your apple pie, . . . it is much more special. Take care. 🙂

  11. Delicious MJ thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop, pinning, tweeting and featuring on this week’s hop.

  12. This sounds wonderful and I love all your tips. I actually can’t recall if I’ve ever made this either although I feel like I’ve made something similar. It’s perfect for this time of the year and I’m sure it would be devoured quickly in my home.

  13. MJ, your clafoutis is beautiful and looks so delicious, I might change my apple tart plans for this week…. I don’t think I’ve ever made an apple clafoutis, but it sounds like a great idea, especially with almond milk (I once used only this milk and it did make a difference in taste, though quite subtle). You’ve reminded me I should make almond milk more often.
    Even though traditional sources call for cream, my usual (French sourced) recipe calls for milk only, so I was surprised when, after several years, I saw cream in another recipe! For me it’s always been classified as one of the light desserts…
    I think nowadays most home French cooks (and also pastry chefs) make much lighter desserts than those from the Julia Child’s times 😉 (though some cannot be slimmed down, alas….). Alain Ducasse, a very famous Michelin-starred chef, has a half-milk half-cream crème brûlée in his bistrot cookery book (not even labelled as “light”!) and this is the only crème brûlée I have been making for years. The lighter one tastes better and is more sophisticated. So is your beautiful clafoutis, I’m sure!

    I don’t have good memories of food served by a gluten-intolerant friend, especially cakes… also gritty texture in desserts that should be smooth… but she always said she loved her creations.

    Talking of almond milk, I once used only almond milk in an apricot clafoutis and the taste was really different (but I guess apricots have also a slight almondy flavour…).

    • Well, you just taught me more about clafoutis than I read online. 🙂 Thanks! Dairy is not always my friend, so I’m trying to use Almond milk more and more in baking and it does seem to work. It adds a little different flavor than milk, but it’s all good. It worked nicely with the apples. Yep, I just can’t get use to the grittiness of GF baked goods. Thanks goodness I don’t have to work about it. 🙂 Thanks so much girlfriend!

  14. Maple syrup? Genius idea and the perfect compliment to this fall dessert, M.J. (I’m going to try this in my next apple pie!)

  15. Oh I do like clafoutis and this one looks amazing, great modifications an d seasonal twist with apples.

  16. I love clafoutis and I’ve made with cherries, plums, peaches and pears until now. Never apples though, I really have to try that soon.

  17. This would be a perfect breakfast for me! I’ve made clafoutis before and I love their simplicity and lightness! And right now, apples are where it’s at!

  18. This looks wonderful, MJ! Clafoutis is always delicious – but your version with the custard sounds even better! I’d love for you to share this recipe with us at Hearth and Soul if you have time. It’s real comfort food.

  19. I love clafoutis, the milky soft texture with the tangy fruit is such a good combo!

  20. This dessert sounds perfect for this upcoming weekend. Just bought a bag or so of handpicked crisp apples and have everything on your list in my kitchen. How convenient is that! Sharing!

  21. MJ, I am so loving your take on a traditional clafouti. I love that you used 2% and also knowing Vanilla Almond Milk worked sure is helpful – delightful dish – perfect end to a meal!

    • Thanks Shashi! I do work with almond milk quite a bit because sometimes I don’t handle milk products too well. It’s always nice to have an alternative. 🙂

  22. We have a bushel of apples in the garage needing to be eaten and used up. This dish looks delicious -I’ve never had it before.

  23. Gorgeous! The color, the rise, and the clafoutis format (which is more about the fruit than anything else – love that). I will absolutely make your gorgeous dessert MJ and thank you for sharing your experience with almond flour. I might try my usual mix of rice and almond and maybe a little tapioca to smooth things out – I’ve actually come to love the slightly coarser texture of these flours but I know what you mean if it gets too gritty… I’ll share my experiment. Had no idea it was apple month but no excuses needed ;o) What a beauty.

    • Thanks so much Kelly! I hope you do make it! I think you’ll like it even the GF version. It’s interesting that you mentioned that you have come to love the slightly coarser texture. My GF friend said pretty much the same thing. In fact, she enjoyed it so much that after I ate my piece, she took the rest. 🙂 Look forward to your feedback!

      • I made your apple clafoutis on Sunday MJ – so easy and delicious! I used part milk and part half & half (10% cream), for the flour: 2 Tbsp brown rice flour; 2 Tbsp almond flour and 2 generous Tbsp tapioca flour/starch. we could not discern any grittiness – it was soft and spongy (but not mushy) – just like other clafoutis’ I have known and loved 🙂 thank you so much for the inspiration, it’s a keeper.

        • WooHoo!!!! SO very glad you enjoyed it! I’ll have to try your GF combination for my GF friend to see if I can get the same results. I’m so glad it was like clafoutis that you’ve had before, since I had never had one before now. 🙂 So now between us we have to apple recipe keepers – this clafoutis and your Autumn Comfort Apple Cake. Thanks Kelly!

  24. Love clafoutis! We’ve made plenty of fruit ones, but never apple for some reason. Great idea! And so seasonal. 🙂 Thanks!

  25. I’ve made berry clafoutis to great disappointment. This apple version sounds tasty.

  26. Pass a slice! I have been enjoying the new crop of apples too. A wonderful recipe to savor apple season!

  27. This reminds me of German apple pancake…now you have me crave some! It looks fantastic, MJ.

    • A German pancake! That’s what I have been trying to think of! They do come out looking like it. Since I’ve never made one, I’m not sure of the taste difference. Guess I need to make one. 🙂 Thanks Angie!

  28. THIS LOOKS AMAZING!! My mouth is watering looking at the pictures and reading the recipe. The only question I have is, do I wait until the next time I go to the store so I can buy apples or do I try it with the crisp pears that I have? Either way, it is definitely on the menu soon!

    • Thanks Nadalyn!!! Crisp pears would Absolutely work!!!! We’re getting so many great apples this year that I haven’t even thought of pears yet. 🙂

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