Wisconsin journalist Madeline Scherb is author of a new cookbook, “A Taste of Heaven: A Guide to Food and Drink Made by Monks and Nuns” (Tarcher, $15.95).It includes this dessert recipe from Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourette, a noted cookbook author from Our Lady of the Resurrection Monastery in Lagrangeville, N.Y.This recipe, adapted from “A Taste of Heaven: A Guide to Food and Drink Made by Monks and Nuns,” is a cross between a custard and a pancake.Scherb suggests using caramels from Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey in Dubuque, Iowa. These caramels can be purchased online at www.trappistine.com. But any caramels can be used in the recipe.

BROTHER VICTOR’S PEAR CLAFOUTIS—Yield: 12 servings

4 eggs1/3 cup sugar1 tablespoon cornstarch2 cups whole milk1-2 tablespoons Cognac or pear brandy, optional1 teaspoon vanilla extract6 ripe Bosc pears, peeled, cored and halved1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg12-14 vanilla caramels, unwrapped

Procedure:1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan.2. Whisk together eggs, sugar and cornstarch in medium bowl. Add milk, Cognac and vanilla; mix until well combined. Pour a thin layer, about 1 cup, custard into prepared baking pan, tilting pan to spread custard evenly over bottom of pan.2. Bake until custard thickens and sets, 7-10 minutes. Remove pan from oven; carefully arrange pears, cut side down, over custard. Pour remaining custard over fruit; sprinkle nutmeg lightly over top. Arrange caramels about 2 inches apart ontop. Bake until custard is firm and starts to brown around the edges, 40-45 minutes. Serve warm.

Nutrition data per serving: 156 calories, 17 percent of calories from fat, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 57 mg cholesterol, 31 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein, 55 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.

An Arizona Department of Public Safety police officer looks through debris as dead bodies, covered in blue tarp, lay at an accident scene Friday in Sacaton, Ariz. Police are saying six people were killed in the crash on Interstate 10 about 25 miles south of Phoenix after a bus traveling from Mexico to Los Angeles struck a pickup truck and rolled before landing upright on its wheels. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ross D. Franklin