Thursday, August 5, 2010

Dessert crepes {how delicious}

Remember when I used to post regular recipes? Tasty Tuesdays? And then I believe I called it "Simply Scrumptious" because I got busy/lazy and posting on Tuesdays fell by the wayside?

I know, that was ages ago. AGES.

While I am definitely not planning to resurrect Tasty Tuesdays, I do rather miss posting the occasional recipe here on my blog. So, don't be surprised if you see a food post pop up now and then. Especially since I really am trying to be a better cook for my family, as well as striving to be more hospitable and open our home more often to friends and family alike (which also usually involves cooking or baking of some sort. Whee!).

Last night we had Alyssa and Chris over for dinner, and it was lovely. We had such a great time with them! Turns out our men are "technology twins" so they got along famously, which gave us time to talk of weddings and babies and home stuff, oh my.

Food-wise, it was also a great night. She brought some altogether cheesy and fattening and AMAZING mac n' cheese, on which we pigged out along with fresh-baked bread, roast chicken, and spinach salad. And, even after all that, we still made room for dessert. I made these:
Photobucket

Dessert crepes are SO easy (took me all of 15 minutes to whip these up, from start to finish with every component) and they are also SO yummy. This is my favorite way to make them (so far), but you can be as creative as you'd like with crepes. Therein lies the fun!

Caramelized Banana Nutella Crepes
makes approx. 8 servings (as served in picture)

For the crepes :
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. cooking oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a whisk until combined. Heat a lightly greased 6-inch skillet over med. heat. Lift skillet off heat and spoon in approx. 3 tbsp. of batter. Tilt skillet to spread batter in pan, until bottom is mostly covered. Return to heat and brown for a minute or two, then quickly and gently flip crepe using a spatula. Allow to brown on other side for a very brief minute. Gently slide crepe out of skillet onto a plate covered with a paper towel. Repeat steps until batter is used up. (This recipe will make more like 12-16 crepes, so you'll probably have extra ones)

Here's where the measurements become very approximate, since I just sort of threw this all together once upon a time off the top of my head... it's not exact, and you can add more or less of each ingredient as suits your taste. :)

For the filling:
1 cup Nutella
1/2 cup creme fraiche (easily found at stores like Trader Joes or Whole Foods, etc.)

(use less nutella and more creme fraiche if you prefer it not to be so sweet) Stir these two together in a bowl until blended. Lay out 8 of your finished crepes on individual plates, and spoon approx. 2 tbsp of filling down the center. Loosely roll up each crepe, flipping it to make sure the "seam" is on the bottom.

For the topping:
2 tbsp. butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large-ish bananas
Cinnamon
Creme Fraiche

Melt butter in non-stick skillet over med-high heat. Add brown sugar and stir together. While this cooks briefly on the stove, chop the bananas in half lengthwise and then in slices. Add them to the skillet and gently stir to coat them in the brown sugar/butter. Add cinnamon (as much or as little as you'd like and continue to gently stir until bananas are heated through and slightly soft.

Place a dollop of creme fraiche on top of rolled-up crepes, then top with caramelized bananas. And, you're done!

I know this seems like a lot of steps and like it might be labor-intensive , but really, like I said, it's so quick and so easy. Trust me. You will want to make these. :)

Does anyone else have a favorite way of preparing dessert crepes? Do share!

8 comments:

lindsey leif said...

oh yummidy yum yum!!!!!!!!!!!!
and
i feel like you were speaking right into my eyes when you said, "I know this seems like a lot of steps and it might be labor-intensive , but really, like I said, it's so quick and so easy."

and THATS why i love you, you read my mind!!!!!!!!!

i am sooooooo totally obsessed with making my home more hospitable too, i wish we lived in the era of no cellphones/texting........that way, people would literally 'drop' in and now it seems like dinners/desserts/hangouts are always so planned :)

regardless - having something sweet and easy on hand is a great way to quickly please some houseguests :)

hopefully someday I'LL be your dinner guest. mr leif and the baby too.

LOVE you!!!!!!!!!!

lindsey leif said...

ps........
MORE recipes!
More recipes, i say!

:)

molly june. said...

dessert crepes? yes, please! i'll be right over. no really, i will! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! :)

can't wait to squeeze your face off!

Unknown said...

OH sister! Thanks for a new recipe!! I love new recipes, especially sweet scrumptious things like these :D

alyssa said...

Mmmm they are so good and I am so happy to have been able to scarf them down :) Ah dangit...I guess I need to make those cupcakes!

PS, again, we had such a good time staying over til late hours on a weeknight (wow, we're old!). Must do again soon :)

Alison said...

MMMM MMMM MMMM
I LOVE crepes!! I make them for breakfast all the time because they are so easy to make! My boys eat them up faster than I can cook them too! We put peanut butter and bananas on them, or jelly, or strawberries...the list goes on!!!

Also, I love your cute little family! Your girls are beautiful! I found your blog through my friend Molly and I am so glad you finally got up there to meet all of you! I hear about you bakersfield bloggers a lot from her!! Have fun with her...I miss her soo!!

.jimaie.marie. said...

Oh gosh, these sound SO GOOD!! and mmmmm, creme fraicheeeee <3 I love that you and Alyssa got to meet up, what a fun little dinner party!! I wish I could've crashed it ;D hahah!! I love that the boys had gaming in common, how perfect! ha!

sarah marie p said...

Yummmm! These look SO delish! Thanks for the recipe! haha -- I love that the guys were "technology twins"! heee Too funny.