dessertcrepes

Dessert Crepes

Dessert Crepes are a popular variation of this traditonal Italian family dish. They vary slightly from traditional crepes because the batter is sweetened and contain vanilla or another extract of your choice. Fillings can be Mascarpone, cream cheese, fresh fruit or pie fillings.

Crepe Batter:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk
½ cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons powered sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla or other extracts.

Mascarpone or Cream cheese - Optional

Pie Filling -Optional

Fresh Fruit - Optional

Wisk the flour to get rid of any large lumps. Then wisk in the eggs, milk, water, butter, salt, sugar and flavoring extract. Although it is not really necessary to refrigerate the batter for 30 minutes, it helps the flour to absorb the flavor of the rest of the ingredients. Don’t be so concerned about the small lumps. The old-timers whipped up this batter like a hurricane, used it right away, and it always turned out perfect.

Heat a medium non-stick pan over moderate heat. Coating your pan with some unsalted butter will help the crepes from sticking. Now you are ready to begin the magic. Make sure that your pan is not so hot that the butter turns brown.

Pour about a ¼ cup of batter into the pan and swirl it around so that a thin layer of your batter covers most of the pan. Make sure that it is not sticking. Check that out by lifting the edges. Cook it very lightly and flip it over. Then lightly cook the other side until the batter is no longer wet. Be careful to not over cook. Crepes are not supposed to be very thick, so make sure that you don’t put too much batter in the pan for each crepe. If the batter becomes too thick, add a tablespoon of water.

Remove each finished crepe and lay them out flat on a tray or dish layered with wax paper. You can then stack them after they are cooled. They may be stored in a large plastic baggie in the refrigerator for a few days, or frozen for a few weeks or so. I was a rare event when a crepe made it to the freezer in my mother’s kitchen.

When the crepes are cooled, fill the center with any combination of sweet fillings you desire. Chopped sweetened fresh fruit, when in season, is an excellent choice. If fresh is not available, use pie filling. After filling, roll up the crepe in a jelly roll manner and sprinkle with powered sugar. Either cut them in thirds or serve them whole. A good scoop of gelato is an excellent compliment to this dessert.

Optional fillings can be sweetened mascarpone or cream cheese. They can also be finished with a drizzle of melted chocolate or other flavored fruit creams. There are so many possibilities, so use your imagination.