Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Dessert Crepes



This flourless dessert crepe recipe is a great way to have a restaurant-quality dessert at home without ignoring your dietary restrictions. And your options for fillings are endless.



I made these crepes last week for a DIY Crepe Station--the perfect ending to a lovely meal. Filling options included sliced strawberries (no sugar added), sliced bananas, whipped cream, vanilla and chocolate mousses, sugar-free vanilla yogurt, sugar-free chocolate syrup, honey and agave nectar. These offered everyone an opportunity to make their own creation. Who doesn't love that?

While it's a simple batter to mix up, making these crepes are a little fiddly--here are a few lessons learned:

  • re-grease the pan before each crepe
  • low heat is the way to go... be patient
  • if the crepe is troublesome to flip, give it another minute
  • you can repair cracks by adding a wee patch of extra batter

On to the recipe.


Flourless Dessert Crepes
makes about 5 five-inch crepes

Canola Spray
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or honey, or sugar, or sugar replacer of choice; for savory crepes, omit sweetener altogether)
2 teaspoons flavorless vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (omit for savory crepes)

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, agave nectar, oil and vanilla.



Set a small saute pan (I used an 8-inch nonstick pan with a 5-inch bottom) over medium-low heat; when preheated, spray with canola spray.

Ladle just enough batter into pan to coat the bottom. You may need to turn the pan to distribute batter. Let sit for about 2 minutes.





I checked the batter by touching it carefully; when liquid did not stick to my finger, I flipped it. When it looks puffy, it's ready to flip.



To flip, carefully slide crepe to one side and flip using a silicon spatula. Again, this takes some doing. I wrecked my share, believe me. Here's one that didn't turn out so well.



That one was for my mouth.

After flipping, they only need another minute to finish cooking. I stacked them on a plate with wax paper between each crepe, and that worked wonderfully.



Here's a good one. Fortunately most of my crepes came out this way.



But some didn't. Some were a little overdone--they just looked a little darker than they should. Perfectly edible. Others were torn, or a little squished. All edible, but not perfect. These went to the bottom of the stack.







I could have only showed you the good ones, but I wanted to be honest here: I am not a perfect crepe-maker. But imperfection is good, too.

10 comments:

Mary said...

Crepes always sounded so hard to me. Thanks for clarifying. I like how you showed the crumpled one and said that one was for your mouth! I cook the same way! Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I do that on purpose. ;)

Oh and I think I have the same little fold up tables!

Amanda said...

Hi, Mary! I always eat the ruined ones. No sense wasting them! Like my mother-in-law would say, "It all eats the same."

My g'ma gave me those little tv tray tables--and I've used them and used them and used them! They manage to go into service in every room of my house. Having a dinner party in the dining room? Set them up all in a row for a buffet service. Whole-house party (because my house is tiny, any party uses kitchen and living/dining rooms)? Line the trays up in the kitchen for beverage service (and remove kitchen table & chairs). Then of course I use them individually as needed.

Anonymous said...

Dang it! You are so awesome!

Amanda said...

I AM awesome. Finally, someone has noticed.

Okay I couldn't even type that with a straight face.

Anonymous said...

Movie trivia time!

"Say you love crepes or I will break your arm!"

"But I don't even know what crepes are!"

"Then say say you like very thin pancakes"!

Amanda said...

I have no idea. Because I don't watch movies with characters with two first names. Or race car drivers. Or frenchmen.

*Ahem*

Anonymous said...

this is an interesting recipe. i will have to try it!

Amanda said...

Hi, Lucky, thanks for stopping in! If you do decide to try these, let me know how you like them.

Bon weekend!

Anonymous said...

OMG these crepes are to die for. My family had a tradition of making crepes on Sundays but then I was diagnosed with Celiac Sprue (I hate calling it a disease)about a year ago and we haven't made crepes since. Then we found this recipe and WOW! They're even better than the original flour crepes!
Thank you.

Amanda said...

It makes my heart glad that you are able to enjoy your family tradition once again!

(And I agree about calling some things 'diseases.' I think the word conjures up the idea of imminent death, which is an unnecessarily negative view.)

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