Soft & Bite-Sized (IDDSI Level 6)
Tender foods cut into small, bite-sized pieces that are easy to chew and break apart with minimal effort.
Clafoutis is traditionally a rustic French custard baked with whole fruit suspended in a thin batter. Classic versions use cherries, often unpitted, and that detail is not incidental. The pits release a faint almond aroma during baking, and the skins help the fruit hold together so it doesn’t dissolve into the custard. In other words, the original structure of clafoutis relies on fruit that can tolerate prolonged heat without collapsing or leaking excessively.
Those same characteristics are why clafoutis can be unpredictable outside of its traditional form. Soft berries break down quickly, release water, and introduce acidity that can thin the custard or cause uneven setting. The skins wrinkle, the centers collapse, and the batter has to compensate. Many modern clafoutis recipes rely on extra flour or sugar to correct those issues, which pushes the dish away from its original balance.
Apples behave very differently in the oven, and that’s exactly why they work so well here in this soft & bite-sized (IDDSI Level 6) dessert. When apples are sliced thin and warmed before baking, some of that pectin begins to loosen, but the cell walls remain intact. During baking, the apples continue to soften while still retaining their shape, becoming part of the custard rather than pockets within it.
From a food science standpoint, apples also help stabilize the custard itself. As the fruit warms, it releases moisture slowly instead of flooding the batter all at once. That controlled release allows the eggs and starch in the custard to set evenly, reducing curdling and preventing the watery layer that often forms under high moisture fruits. Presoftening the apples further improves this by removing excess surface moisture before it ever enters the dish.
The result is a clafoutis that sets cleanly, reheats predictably, and improves as it rests. The custard firms without tightening, the apples integrate without disappearing, and the finished dish holds together across temperature changes. This makes apple clafoutis especially well suited to oven baking, make-ahead meals, and gentle reheating, all without needing to force structure through excess flour or sugar.
This approach stays true to the spirit of clafoutis while adapting it thoughtfully. The goal is to choose fruit that behaves well for soft diets under the same conditions. Apples respect the method. They soften slowly, support the custard, and allow the dish to remain what it was always meant to be: simple, forgiving, and quietly reliable.
Apple Clafoutis Recipe
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a shallow baking dish or pie plate.
- In a skillet over medium heat, add apples, butter, and sugar. Cook 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples begin to soften and release juices. Remove from heat and spread evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- In a blender or bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, flour, vanilla, salt, and nutmeg if using. Blend or whisk until completely smooth. Pour custard gently over the apples.
- Bake uncovered for 40–50 minutes, until the clafoutis is just set in the center and lightly puffed. The center should jiggle slightly but not appear liquid. Remove from oven and cool at least 20 minutes before serving. The custard will continue to firm as it cools.
SLP Notes
IDDSI Texture Modifications:- Pureed 4 (PU4): Blend the clafoutis with a small amount of milk or cream until smooth and easily slides off the spoon in one bite.
- Minced & Moist 5 (MM5): Mince the apple pieces to be at or less than 4mm and be sure to fold with the custard to keep the bite cohesive
- Easy to Chew 7 (EC7): You can enjoy the recipe as written.
How do I…
Adjust the macros?
Protein: Replace part of the milk with Greek yogurt, Skyr, quark, or add a vanilla or unflavored whey isolate to the custard, add an extra egg or 2 egg whites to the custard or top with a yogurt or ricotta topping
Fat: To lower, use skim or 1% milk, use 2 egg whites to replace one of the eggs. To increase, use half and half or cream instead of milk, add extra butter to the pan or custard, serve with creme fraiche.
Carbs: Reduce sugar and rely on apple sweetness, use half almond flour, use less apple or skip dusting sugar on the pan.
Make it fit my eating style?
Gluten-Free: Replace the flour with a gf blend or cornstarch
Dairy-Free/Vegan: Use plant milks and butter, replace eggs with silken tofu, use maple syrup or sugar over honey.
Make it fit my spoons?
Use presliced apples or applesauce for softer textures
Blend custard in a blender instead of whisking
Bake in one dish with no stovetop steps, being sure to process apples to correct size before baking.
Because this clafoutis is built around how apples behave under heat, the final result is less fragile than versions made with softer fruit. The custard sets evenly, the fruit stays integrated, and the structure holds whether it’s served warm, cooled, or reheated the next day. Small technical choices made early in the process do most of the work, which means the dessert asks very little of you once it’s in the oven.
Details like peeling the fruit or pre softening it aren’t about tradition so much as predictability. Removing skins and excess surface moisture reduces variables, especially when the dish is meant to be baked, cooled, and revisited later. Those steps don’t change the character of the dessert, but they do make the outcome more consistent across different kitchens and schedules.
Apple clafoutis is a dessert that values stability, balance, and good texture adherence over contrast or spectacle. When built with fruit that supports the custard instead of fighting it, the dish becomes something you can rely on, not just the night it’s baked, but in the meals that follow. That quiet reliability is what makes it worth returning to.
Looking for more?
Check out the dark chocolate hazelnut torte for another decadent dessert. Or set dinner for tomorrow with the rosemary white beans and Porkchops with a walnut crumble, also written at a soft and bite sized diet texture.
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