Monday, March 10, 2008

Clafoutis!















The honor of first person to submit something for Hezbollah Tofu (other than me) goes to Gwenlet of the PPK, who went where no vegan has (probably) gone before and veganized Les Halles clafoutis. This is a classic French dessert, but the batter's resemblance to pancake batter and the fact that fruit is involved means that you could probably get away with eating it for brunch. Which would probably kind of piss a French food purist off. And that makes it even better.

Gwenlet notes that, in order to maintain the pretty color of the batter without infiltrating it with cherry juice, you should pour the cherries into the pie plate first and then pour the custard on top of that. I'm totally making this thing as soon as I can steal a pie plate from my mother (how do I not own a pie plate? Seriously?), so I'll add comments too when I'm done eating it like it owes me money.

Cafoutis that Kicks Bourdain's Ass

1 lb. black cherries, pitted (Gwenlet used frozen, rinsed under warm water for a while)
3 oz. kirsh (or any sweet, fruity liquer—Gwenlet used cassis)
1 Tbsp. Earth Balance
1/3 C demerara sugar
¼ C chickpea flour
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
¼ C soy creamer (vanilla)
½ block of silken tofu
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2+ Tbsp. powdered sugar

Toss the cherries (rinse them first, if you’re using frozen) with the cassis, and let them soak for an hour. Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 9-in round pie plate with the Earth Balance, sprinkle it with a little of the powdered sugar, and chill it in the refrigerator.

Sift together the chickpea flour, flour, and baking powder; set aside.

Using a blender or hand blender, blend together the tofu, sugar, vanilla, and soy creamer until very smooth. Mix in the baking powder and chickpea flour so it’s smooth, but don’t overwork it.

Drain the cherries, and pour them into your prepared pie plate. Pour the custard over the top, and shift it back and forth gently until the surface is smooth.

Bake until the edges are golden brown and the center looks set (25-30 minutes) and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Dust the top with the powdered sugar, and serve.
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See? That wasn't hard either. I'm beginning to think that this whole French-cuisine-is-so-delicate-and-difficult bullshit that Bourdain perpetuates is just another means of stroking his grisly ego. (Typing that last sentence made me throw up in my mouth a little.) Regardless, enjoy!

20 comments:

slb said...

I came here by way of the PPK blog and I love this idea and the recipes look great. When the 'zine comes out I'm gonna buy copies for everyone I know, especially the two friends who insist that Bourdain is "misunderstood."

I understand that asshat just fine.

s.

trina said...

I love this recipe. Come cherry season this will be a'cookin' in my kitchen.

Ruby Red Vegan said...

The vegan version of this looks like heaven on earth!

pavotrouge said...

yay! clafoutis!

robotslingshot said...

I love the concept of your blog!! So funny, I am a slightly angry veg-preferential foodie too. Bourdain and his cronies are such sticks in the mud.

I'm linking to you, so I can find this clafoutis recipe later when I get cherries.

Paula

Sébastien said...

At last! I've been wishing for a vegan clafoutis recipe for so long! Thank you! I will definitely try it.
I totally love the concept, too. I happen to be French, like Bourdain, but luckily it's the only thing we have in common.
By the way here is another great blog that does amazing French vegan baking, hopefully it's not too hard to translate: http://vg-zone.net/category/recettes/. They don't mention Bourdain, probably coz he's unknown in France (we do have plenty of other asshole celebs, though)

Jellicles said...

i should get a list of the recipes from the book.( i refuse to buy the book.) if anyone can make a list of the dishes, it shouldnt be difficult to veganise them as they are all probably standard french bistro preparations anyways...

Danielle said...

And if you don't have any confectioner's sugar lying around the house: take four parts regular sugar (I use either evaporated cane juice or turbinado) to one part arrowroot starch or corn starch, toss in a blender, and whiz until mixed well. But open the blender CAREFULLY.

Ovidia said...

I love your blog concept!!! (just found my way here via postpunkkitchen) realise till now I've been doing vegan survival cooking & voodoo doesn't work on Bourdain...

your way is MUCH better!

Going to read through archives & start cooking--can't contribute because I refuse to buy Bourdain's books!

bookdawg said...

Awesome blog idea, and so far the recipes I've read sound heavenly! One tip for all of you who don't want to buy Bourdain's book...the LIBRARY! Of course I'm a librarian so I'm partial!

Seitan Wörshipper said...

respect! Vegans really rules that world-which only blindly bows those idiot-elitists like Bourdain... But great to notice that at someone had this great destination to change those Bourdain`s beef-eater brunches in vegan form ;)

Jill Murray said...

I made this today and it was great! Thanks so much. This is exactly the kind of thing I hoped to eat in Paris... and was dismayed to discover that Parisian vegan chefs aren't really veganizing French food! No wonder Bourdain is afraid of them.

Can you tell me more about the creamer you used? I could only find plain, not vanilla. Does the vanilla creamer have added sugar?

DJ said...

I love clafoutis so will definitely be trying this out!

Veggie said...

I have no idea what Cafoutis is or who this Bourdain guy is, but I love cherries so this recipe sounds great to me.

Carla said...

Love your blog idea! Next time I veganise something traditionally french (in reality not often) I'll drop you a line! well done.

Schaefer said...

Bourdain doesn't perpetuate any kind of "French-cuisine-is-so-delicate-
and-difficult bullshit". The introduction to the Les Halles cookbook says "[French cooking] is a skill that any reasonably coordinated person with a good heart and an average work ethic can accomplish."

Your project looks really interesting and I agree that Bourdain has a loud mouth, but don't accuse him of being snobbish.

Sara said...

Re: accusations of snobbishness: It's the whole holier-than-though, carnivore-superiority thing that earns Bourdain the snob card here. I have found the writing within his recipes to perpetuate this. But that's essentially my personal opinion, and this blog does not exist to accurately gauge Bourdain's character--because, dude, we're just trying to mock him mercilessly and make some cash for Farm Sanctuary. I'd write 700 words about him running a foot-fetish brothel in West Virginia if it would raise a few extra dollars for the cause. (But, you know, a sex-free brothel. Libel, what libel?)

Sébastien said...

Couldn't find cherries but I made this with cooking pears ("clafoutis aux poires", a common variation that my mother used to make a lot, not my invention!), substituting the liqueur for rhum. It was great except for the taste of my gram flour that didn't seem right (I'll try another flour else next time, mine is from an Indian market and tastes real strong). Very impressed by the consistency which is just like the real thing, and everyone loved it! Best left to set for 30 min or so before eating (we discovered it's a bit runny if eaten straight out of the oven).
I posted a pic here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clafou/2371731633/
Awesome recipe, thank you SO much!

Sara said...

i suggest trying this with plums too. mmmmm

Joan said...

Have I got a clafoutis recipe for you--it can be vegetarian (eggless but with milk) or vegan but it is based on Molly Katzen's beautiful recipe. Will post this weekend after I make it again.

Majnoon tofu, sweets.