The forgotten pear...mini pear clafoutis

This may sound strange but a couple of weeks ago, I ate a pear and it hit me that I hadn't had one in ages!  It'd probably only been a year but it felt like a whole lot longer - almost as though I'd forgotten about them and eating one triggered all these taste memories...

I was reminded of the unique flavor and texture of pears.  I don't know if I can say that I love them but they are certainly unique and different.  Now that we're firmly in the short, narrow window of pear season, I'm making up for lost time by stocking up and snacking on them.

I also thought I'd do a little baking with pears.  I've been meaning to try my hand at making clafoutis for months now and when I saw this post, I was inspired into action!

Bosc and Bartlett pear (from left to right); I went with the Bartlett for my clafoutis

I played it safe for my first clafoutis and stuck with a simple formula that produced a classic creamy-eggy-sweet custard for my pears.  Clafoutis, with that custard base, reminds me of a combination of egg custard (one of my favorite comfort foods), pancake (like a Dutch baby), and flan (which makes me understand the idea of a brown sugar, caramelized version).  All of that appeals to me.

To be honest, I can't say that I've ever even had clafoutis before now so I'm no expert on the subject.  If anyone would care to enlighten me, I'm all ears!  This is how mine turned out.  I baked it until the custard was just set but still soft, which is how I like custards like this.  We dug into ours for breakfast, while it was still ever so slightly warm.  The lightly sweetened custard was a great base for the sweet pear (which was ripe but not mushy), and each mouthful just felt like comfort food for a chilly Fall morning.

I love making scaled down, half-recipes, and I baked this pear clafoutis in a 6-inch glass pie dish I picked up from Crate & Barrel recently.  It made a nice mini clafoutis for two but I hear that clafoutis is also good eaten cold so maybe leftovers wouldn't be a bad thing.


For anyone who's interested in reading up on pears, I found this webpage very informational.  I wasn't sure how to tell when pears were ripe and this webpage tells you how to determine that (you press the neck gently) as well as the best way to store them.

I used a Bartlett pear for this clafoutis.  I couldn't decide between that and a Bosc pear so it was more of a random selection.  When my pears were ripe, I stored them in the refrigerator to prolong their shelf life and to make sure they don't get too soft since some (particularly, the Bartlett, I think) can get mushy.  So if you do make a pear clafoutis, just make sure your pear is ripe but not too soft.


Recipe:

Mini Pear Clafoutis
Adapted from this recipe and also inspired by this post from Orangette

- For one clafoutis baked in a 6-inch pie dish - 

Butter, for greasing the dish
1/2 ripe but still firm pear, thinly sliced (I used a Bartlett pear but Bosc would also be a great choice)
1 extra-large egg
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Small pinch of salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 6-inch glass pie dish lightly with butter.  Arrange pear slices on the bottom of the dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and sugar together until frothy and pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add milk, vanilla, salt, and whisk until combined.  Sprinkle in the flour and whisk together until smooth.

Gently pour the custard over the pears.  Bake until custard puffs slightly and the top begins to turn golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, approximately 25 minutes. Let cool slightly or fully to room temperature (the clafoutis will deflate a bit) and dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.