Blueberry Crepe Recipe

As I told you yesterday, I made crêpes as an experiment to see how well they keep in the freezer. Unfortunately, the crêpes haven’t been able to make it to leftover status, and here's a big part of  the reason why. After making savory crêpes filled with beets and goat cheese, we filled the remaining crêpes with blueberries, vanilla whipped cream and guava sauce. Needless to say, they went fast!

Crêpes are a quick and easy dessert if you can manage to store some in the freezer. If you are looking for a sweet way to end dinner, just pair crêpes with fresh fruits, chocolate sauce, other fruit preserves and whipped cream (or yogurt). You just can’t go wrong.

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Nutella Crepes with Kiwi

Chocolate and kiwi are two of my favorite flavors. When combined, they enhance one another, creating subtleties that cannot be found in either ingredient on its own. In the past I've used them in cakes and other desserts, and today I thought it would be fun to use the combo as a crepe filling.

The chocolate part of the equation is satisfied by the French mainstay Nutella. Nutella, in case you don't know, is a chocolate hazelnut spread. I wasn't sure at first how the hazelnuts would play with kiwi, but after tasting the finished product, I can't imagine it any other way!

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Crepe Party: La Chandeleur

Today (February 2nd) is La Chandeleur and crêpes are part of the French celebration. For those who don't know, a crêpe is a very thin pancake. The legend says that if you catch the crêpe flat (without it being wrinkled) with a pan after tossing it in the air with your left hand while holding a coin in your right hand, you will have a prosperous year until the next Chandeleur.



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Crepe Cake with Butterscotch Cream

Mille Crêpe, also known as Gâteau de Crêpe, is a multi-layered cake made out of crêpes. I spread layers of butterscotch buttercream in between each crêpe and topped the cake with thinly-sliced candied apples. This is quite time-consuming to make in miniature versions, but you can always make large crêpes and cut the cake into slices as you would with regular buttercream cakes.

I made the cake in honor of La chandeleur (Candlemas), which is celebrated on February 2^nd. It's originally a Christian tradition that celebrates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple and also marks the end of the Epiphany season (Kings' galettes are made). I don't exactly know how crêpes became part of the French celebration of La Chandeleur, but I do know that they are an integral part of the festivities. There is a legend that says that on the day of La Chandeleur, if you're able to flip a crêpe and make it land properly (without it being wrinkled) in the pan without dropping it on the floor, you'll have a prosperous year. Originally,  prosperity referred to a bumper crop of grain, but with fewer and fewer people farming for a living, over time it's come to imply general wealth. In a way it's an enduring testament to the agrarian culture of yore. That culture has survived in other ways too; in fact the saying avoir beaucoup de blé, which literally means "To have a lot of wheat", is slang for "being wealthy".

If you want to practice, prepare the crêpe batter a couple of days in advance, cook a few, and try to flip them. It may not fill your pocketbook, but it's a great way to fill your tummy.

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Tarte Tatin aux Pommes (Upside down Apple Pie)

 Tarte Tatin sounds like a fancy dessert, but really, it's just an upside down caramel apple tart. I made a simple tart shell using dough called pâte brisée. Instead of filling the shell though, I placed slices of apples that were cooked in a caramel sauce into the mold and then covered them with the tart shell. The tarts then went into the oven to cook the shell. 

You really should eat these treats almost as soon as they come out of the oven. To plate, just flip each mold and the apples will now be on top. If you wait too long, the caramel will harden and it will be difficult to unmold.  If you flip the tart out and let it sit, the crust will get soggy. This has never been a problem at my house because the smell of freshly baking apples always manages to gather the entire family in the kitchen.

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