So a few weeks ago I made plum clafoutis. The most deliciously unconventional plum clafoutis ever -- no eggs, milk, flour, or sugar {that's ⅘ components of a traditional clafoutis, the fifth being the fruit!}... I had a few very ripe plums and dessert on my mind, so a soft, warm, gooey plum souffle dessert just made a lot of sense in the moment. And it came out out-of-this-world delicious. One of the best simple and nostalgic desserts I've had in ages... And I've been sheepishly keeping it all to myself... But after a lot of deliberation I finally decided to release this little bird into the wild because if you're a plum and/or clafoutis fan, I know you're going to LOVE this.
Why have I been keeping the recipe to myself for so long? I actually hesitated to share it for some time now -- I generally try to keep the soy out of the blog because I know many of you don't do soy {and I want everyone to be happy whenever possible!}, but when this warm and comforting clafoutis happened, it couldn't unhappen. I don't do a lot of soy myself either to be honest, but have been able to included it back in my diet lately so I've been having fun experimenting. I've since tried to recreate the results of this pudding without the tofu, but so far no dice. So I pondered, and pondered, and in the end decided to share the recipe because it was simply perfect as is and I know you're going to enjoy it!
In case you've never had clafoutis before -- it's a type of dessert that treads a very fine line between something like a souffle, a pudding, and a custard. It's usually quite simple, it's flavor subtle, it's texture melt-in-your-mouth delicate. Its warm, saucy, compote-like baked fruitiness is unbelievably good.
I've only ever made cherry clafoutis in the past, and loved it so. But the decision to switch it up with plum was a great one -- the plums turned into a delicious self-saucing compote inside the clafoutis. I've since learned that plum clafoutis is actually a common variation -- and now I know why!
The smell of it baking is intoxicating. And seeing that little poof deflate at the end was a treat -- just like the regular version! :) Enjoy it warm or chilled. I dusted mine with a bit of powdered coconut milk for the snowy effect, but it's optional. I also made it in a smallish oval ceramic dish {22 oz / so just under 3 cups} and it made about 6 servings. Any dish of a similar size will work, or make it in individual ramekins. Just make sure you don't fill it too high because it needs space to rise first and you might end up with a mess if you don't give it room! I thought I did and even so had a tiny {but delicious looking} spill over on one side. So heed my warning :)
Now go get some ripe plums before the season is over and clafoutis away...
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Unconventional Plum Clafoutis
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Category: Pudding
Method: Baked
Cuisine: Dessert
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Pin RecipeDescription
A gluten-free and dairy-free souffle /pudding type dessert with spiced plums stewed in their own juices.
Ingredients
- 1 pack extra firm silken tofu {I used Mori-Nu -- the 350gr pack}
- ¼ cup white rice flour {brown rice flour is fine too}
- ¼ cup sweet sticky rice flour {also known as mochi or glutinous rice flour}
- ½ cup maple syrup {or agave, brown rice syrup, coconut nectar, etc.}
- ¼ cup dates, pitted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 ripe sweet plums, rough chopped
- *Optional: {non-dairy} vanilla ice cream or yogurt of your choice for serving
- *Optional: powdered coconut milk(make sure it's dairy-free)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Oil your baking dish{es} {see notes above for sizes} or use a good non-stick pan and set aside.
- Place tofu in a blender and blend until smooth. Add all other ingredients except plums into a blender and blend into a smooth mixture. Pour into prepared baking dish. Stir in chopped plums.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes {or cool, then chill in the fridge if you like it cold. I like mine nice and warm though...}. Scoop into bowls {unless using individual ramekins} and serve with a side of {non-dairy} ice cream or yogurt of your choice {optional}. Enjoy!
What other what other flower can I use instead of the sticky rice flour. I don't have a lot of those exotic flours
Hi Nancy, unfortunately the sweet rice flour is essential to the recipe here as it's what makes it squishy/springy. You can usually find it in the Asian / Thai aisle of grocery stores and it's super cheap. It's alternatively called glutinous flour or mochi / mochiko flour.
That said, you can try just doing regular flour in place of the two rice flours here if you prefer, but I've not tried that so not sure how it'll turn out. If you give it a go, would love to hear how it worked out for you.
Has anyone made this with all purpose or whole wheat flour? I am not gluten-free and don't have those flours on hand
Hi Haley. I haven’t tried it personally (as I’m gf), but can offer a few thoughts.
While wheat flour will work as a substitute in most of my baked cakes I’m not so sure about this one. The sweet sticky rice flour is a an essential component regardless — it’s not here just as a gf flour alternative, but because it performs a special function in the recipe, creating a particular fluffy, springy texture. It’s really cheap to buy though — usually less than $2 a bag and can be found either in the baking or the Asian section of grocery stores. You could probably replace the regular rice flour with wheat flour, but whole wheat would add a strong flavor to this recipe, whereas the natural flavor of clafoutis is meant to be milder.
Both rice and sweet sticky rice flours though are very inexpensive, so I’d recommend just picking some up if you get a chance to give this a proper go. But if you do give it a try with wheat flour I’d love to hear how you go — it’s always helpful when people share alternatives they tried and how that turned out, especially for the non gf crowd over here :)
Oh my word, this looks so decadent and amazing! I barely know where to look :D I never know where to find glutinous rice so I'll go scouting because this just looks way too great not to try :)
Thank you! I hope you find some. So many delicious things you can make from it, but I know it can be a tad hard to source in some parts of the world.
I first made plum clafoutis 30 years ago and I still prefer it to cherry. My plum trees are just about to ripen (here in Tasmania it's summer time) and I'm itching to try this recipe, especially as I have had no oven for nearly 2 years and have only moved back home after a big renovation and have yet to use my new commercial stove and oven.
Hi there. So sorry I somehow missed replying to your comment before, but just wanted to say thank you for sharing. Tasmania and plum tree visuals galore over here after reading it :D Sounds quite magical.
Oh no worries. It's winter time here now, but I'm about to head up to the tropical north for 8 weeks for work where my boss has a property with 850 mango trees. Sadly I'll be leaving about 4 weeks before mango season :(
What a shame... all that mango! Well, enjoy your time there nonetheless.
I love clafouti! I've never had it with plums before, but I bet it's amazing. Yum!
★★★★★
Oh, so good with plums! They turn into an ooey gooey plum sauce.
Do you think fruit can be put in place of the maple syrup?
Hi Dana,
Can you do date syrup? That would be the most straight forward fruit-based substitution of all.
Another option is to try increasing the dates to 3/4 cup + add about 1/4 cup non dairy milk -- I haven't tested this option out yet, but I have a feeling that would work well. The only thing is that I find that whole dates alone aren't super sweet when blended into a recipe, so you may want to add a bit more of the fresh plums to offset that. If you try this, I'd love to hear how it goes.
Thank you, when I am able to try the recipe, I'll let you know. : )
Sounds good, Dana! Enjoy it :)
Your clafoutis looks incredible, Audrey! This actually brought back memories of many years ago when I made a vegan plum clafoutis myself...I adapted a non-vegan recipe and was definitely not as healthy as your version, and I don't think it turned out very souffle-ish (although I've never had a souffle so I can't be sure, but it was quite dense!). I must give this clafoutis a try when I have some plums :)
Thanks Kyra! Well, this one is definitely not dense. It's light and pudding like. And quite easy too. I tried to make a few versions without the tofu but they didn't work as well. I think it's definitely the magic ingredient for a dish like this.
Only you would be able to make such an amazing, vegan clafoutis, Audrey!! You are a crazy good baking rockstar and I love it :D
Hehe. Thanks Sarah!
Oeh, this looks delicious. And I am kinda jealous on your spoons; that one is beautiful!
Thanks very much, Monique! That is indeed my favorite spoon :) It was love at first sight when I saw it at a thrift shop ages ago and it's been my breakfast companion and photography star ever since!
So a couple of weeks ago i tried making a plum clafoutis and failed miserably - so Im sitting here oogling yours! Your photos are stellar and your clafoutis looks decadent!
Aw, shucks about your clafoutis, Shashi! And thank you very much. I actually made it very casually and spontaneously and was surprised at how well it turned out. Not always how it goes with planned baking... Sometimes spontaneous inspiration is the best :)
This is so beautiful Audrey, I am lost for words! This is such an incredible recipe! Wow, I love clafoutis and the use of tofu is such an amazing idea!!! You make the most amazing creations. <3
★★★★★
Aw, thank you!
OH god! This is sensational, Audrey. I completely fell in love with this awe-inspiring post. Clafoutis is new to me, but I so wish I could have this right now. And these photographs are — OH. MY. GOSH. Adopt me, please! :)
Hehe. Aw, Anu. Thank you. Clafoutis is a fun treat to make. Sort of like a custard / pudding / soufflet / quiche. That's a lot of strange textures to mesh into one, but that's clafoutis for ya :) Hope you get to try some sometime and put your magic spin on it ;)
This looks amazing! A mixture between a souffle, a pudding, and a custard? Sounds great to me! I try to consume not too much soy too, but this one sounds and looks delicious.
Thanks so much, Bianca! It's hard to imagine all those textures in one -- definitely a unique dessert, but so good. Doubles as a great breakfast pudding too.
My mouth is totally watering now, Audrey!
I used to love clafoutis, but haven't even thought of it for years: eggs, milk, white sugar....just no!
Your unconventional version is totally genius, can't wait to make these :)
Pinned!
Thanks so much, Evi. I know! It's one of those desserts you'd think you'll never get to eat again, but then magic happens :)
I just discovered your site and clearly came in at a good recipe (although I am sure they are all good :) ). I'm not sure I've ever had clafoutis but I've heard of it and love your made over version.
Thanks for stopping by Kari and thank you! :)
I can't believe you can get such a fantastic result with Soy - I wish i could launch myself through my computer to devour it. Thank you so so much for sharing. x
Thank you Ruby! I think soy is a common go-to substitute, but I never tried it before for something like this until this clafoutis happened. Worked like magic.
I have no idea what clafoutis is, so thank you for explaining that to us! Audrey, this is just gorgeous my friend! So elegant and restaurant-worthy, truly. I think the simplicity and beauty of it is amazing. I love that you used rice flours too, I have both regular rice flours and the sticky rice flour and I don't use them often except in specific types of recipes and this inspires me to want to use them more often. Love this beauty girl! Love your closeup pics!
Thanks so much, Brandi. I haven't had clafoutis in ages. I remember though how I picked out a cherry clafoutis from a recipe magazine way back when I was first becoming interested in baking and just knew I had to try it. Something about this French dessert seemed so simple and delicious. I actually remember loving everything about it except the extra eggy flavor... I haven't had it in ages though and didn't really think I would again because traditional clafoutis is all eggs, milk, wheat, and sugar, but was surprised it worked so well without any of those things + non of the eggy taste! Such a simple comforting treat {or breakfast ;) }.
woah i can't believe that this is made with tofu! It looks awesome :) I made a clafoutis for my blog a few months ago and it was made with almond flour but i would love to try this version with the two rice flours and tofu!
Thank you, Rachel. It's my first time trying a clafoutis with tofu and it worked a treat. I love the idea of almond flour in there!
I have seen these before and just thought it was off limits. This sounds really good. I am staying away from soy but I don't think it would hurt to have it now and then. Have a good weekend.
Thank you Sarah! I used to be super soy-sensitive, but seems like that's now mostly over, so I don't mind having it on the rare occasion. It made sense to use it in a recipe like this though -- works just like eggs would.
This looks amazing and is totally my mood at the moment...and hey, there's absolutely nothing wrong with soy. It gets such a bad wrap for no reason at all. I get tbat it can be a common allergen and should obviously be avoided if you're allergic, but it has many nutrients and health benefits as well. Soy consuming cultures have shown longer life spans in many studies. I don't eat a lot of soy myself because I've been practicing everything in moderation, but I do enjoy it occasionally. No need to apologize for the genius work you've done with tofu my friend.
Hehe, thank you Nissrine! I'm on the fence on soy -- I used to be intolerant. Now I can enjoy some, so I like experimenting, but can't overdo it. I agree with what you said though -- I don't usually like it when food gets singled out as "good" or "bad" -- I think both those qualities are present in everything from certain perspectives. I don't share a lot of soy recipes though because I know a lot of the blog readers are soy-sensitive and I always get emails or questions with substitution ideas... It just seems like it's a hard ingredient for those who already have food sensitivities, and I can totally relate because I used to be soy-sensitive too. And usually I find workarounds anyhow, but with something like this the tofu was an essential...
Never had a clafoutis, but your description + these beautiful pictures makes it sound heavenly! Magenta-juicy, toasty-top, and snow-dusted, this is just magnificent <3 Soy or not, you always gotta share these sorts of delicious secrets! And I might just have to try it with the hemp tofu now :)
Oh, Natalie, you made my day with your little hemp tofu secret. I think this may be the magical substitution ingredient for the soy-sensitive in a recipe like this! I'm going to have to hunt some down and try it now.
I've never heard of this dish but it looks absolutely stunning. And those plums. Oh so good!!
Thanks so much, Sam. I first learned of this dish from a random cooking magazine, something about it's French origin and simplicity caught my eye back in the day. It's definitely a treat, especially with those plums <3
This looks insanely good!! My mouth is watering!!!
Thanks very much, Jenn! It is quite good -- especially that warm fruity part on the inside :)
Hehe, thanks Jenn! <3