Crêpe Time

I've been on a crêpe-making spree since I've been home from college. Perhaps it's the anticipation of our upcoming month-long sojourn in Grenoble, France that is driving me to French cuisine; perhaps it is the sudden, glorious absence of a grocery bill (living at home, suckas). In any case, I'm happy to be home and to be back in my Tennessee kitchen, where there are things like free Whole Foods blueberries and Gruyère cheese just sitting around, y'all. Ready for me to turn them into deliciousness.

There's nothing wrong with a good, basic lemon-sugar (or just piled powdered sugar...) crêpe, but this summer I've been experimenting with fresh, delicious filler ingredients. So far my favorites are strawberry & Nutella crêpes and caramelized apples & cream crêpes. (If you're sensing a "cream" theme, you have intuited correctly. My whipped cream fetish is renowned.)

Take a look at these beauties:

You may be living the Southern cultural idiom if you have a white front porch that looks over the Tennessee River. Yes, that is a red gazing ball in the front yard. Welcome to the South.

You may be culturally displaced if you're reading Judith Butler's Gender Trouble and eating fresh crêpes on said porch. Enter me.

In my strawberries & Nutella pancakes, I fill each crepe with fresh strawberries and freshly whipped cream before slathering each with Nutella spread and powdered sugar. Mmmm. Breakfast of champions, y'all.

Basic Crêpe Recipe (makes six crêpes; feeds two hungry individuals)

Ingredients

1cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Whisk milk and egg until combined. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined.
2. After coating a non-stick pan with butter or cooking spray, spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter onto the pan over medium heat. Swirl the pan to create a very thin, even layer of batter. I like to spread the batter out while pouring so that it does not clump in the middle and create a volcanic middle-heavy pancake-crêpe.
3. Cook until the underside begins to brown and flip with a large pancake spatula. Both sides should be slightly browned.

An unfortunate lack of strawberries this morning made me abandon my plans to make these babies for the second day in a row. We did, however, have some beautiful crisp red apples, so I decided to get clever and crêpe those up too.

In my caramelized apples & cream crêpes, I use the following recipe for caramelized apples. I fill each crêpe with the caramelized apples and whipped cream and, after drizzling the top with honey and powdered sugar, pour the reduction from the caramelized apples over the crêpes.

Caramelized Apples

Ingredients

 2 crisp apples (I used Red Lady) cubed into 1/2 inch pieces

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Melt butter and brown sugar in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Whisk until sugar is dissolved in butter and the mixture is combined and bubbly.

2. Whisk in honey and cinnamon. Reduce heat to low.

3. Add in cubed apple pieces. Coat the apple pieces thoroughly with the mixture. Allow apples to cook for roughly 8 minutes.

Yum.

What is your favorite crêpe filling? Do you prefer sweet fruity breakfast crêpes or the more substantial meaty lunch variety?

Enjoy!

Alyssa