Strawberries Are Here

Sandy's Food for Thought: Roasted Strawberry Clafoutis with a Maple-Balsamic Drizzle

By Sandy McCall

“Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits. They are versatile, sweet, and beautiful. Although we are able to find strawberries most of the year in our local grocery stores, I long for fresh strawberries from my garden or from local farmers. Oftentimes, I add a strawberry or two to other dishes, like entrees, to add color and a little sweetness. Sometimes I make dishes centered around fresh strawberries. Today I am making one of my favorite strawberry desserts. My version is called Roasted Strawberry Clafoutis with a Maple-Balsamic Drizzle. Try it for breakfast too!”

Clafoutis (French pronunciation: [klafuti]; Occitan: clafotís [klafuˈtis] or [kʎafuˈtiː]), sometimes spelled clafouti in Anglophone countries, is a baked French dessert of fruit, traditionally black cherries,[1] arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The clafoutis is dusted with powdered sugar and served lukewarm, sometimes with cream.

Roasted Strawberry Clafoutis with Maple-Balsamic Drizzle

12-16 ounces fresh strawberries, divided

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/8 cup pure maple syrup (more if you like it sweeter) for roasting berries

1⁄4 cup pure maple syrup for cake

3 eggs

1 cup coconut milk or dairy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1⁄8 teaspoon sea salt

Opt: 1⁄8 teaspoon cinnamon

1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄2 cup almond flour

Preheat oven to 375°

After trimming and quartering the strawberries, put half of the berries into a small baking dish and reserve the remaining berries.

Whisk together 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/8 cup maple syrup (more if you like it sweeter). Pour over the berries in the baking dish and stir gently. Roast berries for 15-20 minutes.

While berries are roasting, make cake by putting dry ingredients into the food processor. Mix until combined. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, remaining maple syrup and vanilla extract. While the food processor is running, add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and blend until well combined.

Pour batter into a buttered 8” cast iron skillet or a buttered cake pan.

Remove strawberries from the oven, cool slightly. Strain liquid from berries and reserve. Arrange berries evenly on top of cake batter and push them slightly into batter. Bake for about 30 minutes until the cake is puffed, slightly browned and until a knife comes out clean.

Let stand for 10 minutes while you prepare balsamic-maple drizzle. Pour the reserved balsamic-maple syrup mixture into a small cast iron skillet. Heat until it starts to thicken and reduce slightly. It will thicken further as it cools. Set aside.

When you are ready to serve, cut cake into slices, top each piece with a few remaining berries and drizzle with reduced balsamic-maple drizzle. Cake is best served while warm but also can be refrigerated for later use.

Optional: add whipped and sweetened coconut cream or dairy cream.