Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Weekend Treats.....

Custom Creation Crepes

The very first time I made strawberry crepes was when I was about 16 years old, for my mom on Mother's Day. Since then (over MANY years!!) I have experimented and altered many versions to come up with an absolute fail-proof and incredibly delectable "best. Crepes. EVER." recipe.  I only make these for special occasions -  Christmas eve, birthdays and Father's day (so yeah, in our house with 6 kids, I guess they do show up more than just once-in-a-while!).

  I happened to catch a cooking show a while back where the guest chef was making crepes, so of course I was interested in watching.  I laughed when he stated (and proved his point) that you need to "be prepared to just throw out the first crepe you make of every batch, because they never turn out."  HA!  Mine always turn out, even the very first one..  Pfffft. Easy; just takes practice!

First, you'll want to make the custard:

Vanilla Custard Recipe

1. Mix in saucepan:
            2 tbsp. cornstarch
            1/3 c sugar
            dash salt
2:  Whisk together:
           2 egg yolks
           2 c milk
3.  Gradually stir this into the sugar mixture in the saucepan, cook over low-medium heat.  This will take close to 15 minutes.  You CANNOT rush this step; trust me!! It has to thicken slowly, or it will curdle.  Once it starts to thicken, you can turn up the heat to medium and bring it to a boil.
 Boil exactly 1 minute, remove from heat.
4.  Stir in:
     1 tbsp. butter
     2 tsp. vanilla extract
Mix well, set aside.    (I have made this the night before and refrigerated it, but honestly it is SO much better when it's fresh, so allow for the time of this.  It is so worth the effort!).
       

   the Crepe recipe:

3/4 c flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 3/4 c milk
3 eggs
2 tbsp. melted butter (YES, it has to be butter. Don't use margarine, that's just gross).

1. Beat together sugar, eggs, milk and melted butter. It will be very runny and thin.
2.  While mixing, add flour GRADUALLY, mixing the whole time with an electric mixer.
3. Grease a crepe pan (an 8 inch non-stick skillet is fine) lightly, heat WELL.
4.  With a ladle or measuring cup, pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into your pan, lifting if off the heat and swirling it to cover the bottom.  Place back on heat source. With your spatula, carefully and gently push the edges down, all the way around (this will eliminate the problem of a crusty/crisp edge on your crepe.)

 Watch CAREFULLY; as soon as the crepe looks set, firmly slide your lifter under the crepe and flip it over.  The second side won't take as long to cook; probably only about 30 seconds if you haven't made your crepe too thick.

Don't worry if you do wreck the first crepe or two, it does take a bit of practice! But, practice makes perfect, and as soon as you present these to your family, you'll be getting lots of requests for them!
Place cooked crepe on large plate, repeat until the remaining batter is done.  You can place all the crepes on one plate; they won't stick together as long as you stagger them in the stack (don't place directly on top of one another; they're not pancakes).

This recipe should give you 12-14 decent sized crepes, as long as you've made them not too thick.

Now, for the filling:

1 bag frozen strawberries or mixed berries
1 container fresh strawberries and/or blueberries
2-3 ripe bananas
1 c sugar
1/2 c water
1 tsp. cornstarch
 500 ml Whipping Crème (whipped) (surely I don't have to emphasize that it should be REAL whipping crème, right?)

1. In a medium saucepan, prepare your syrup by combining the sugar and water.  Let the sugar dissolve completely, heat well, then add the cornstarch (if you mix the cornstarch with a little water in a small container, it prevents lumps).  Cook this until it is slightly thickened, then add about 1/2 the bag of frozen berries.  Cook these down until you have a thick jam-like mixture; adding more of the frozen berries if necessary.  When this is done, remove from heat and set aside.

2.  Cut up washed fresh strawberries if using (or just wash the blueberries), and peel and thinly slice the bananas, set aside.

3.  You are now ready to assemble your crepes:
      Place one crepe in the middle of a plate, place a line of the fresh fruit down the centre, then top
      with the warm fruit sauce and vanilla custard.
      Fold the sides of the crepe over everything.  Move it over on the plate, repeat with a second crepe
      on the same plate.
      Spoon more of the fruit sauce on the top of the crepes, add some more fresh fruit and whipping
      crème.
      Repeat for the remaining amount of people, serving 2 each if desired.


This is a simple recipe, but it definitely takes some serious planning and time; however it is well worth it, and really tells the people/person you make it for how much you love them!! 






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