I made a batch of crepes yesterday for breakfast. Cat made an apple filling and I made an uncooked sweetened ricotta filling. In addition, I also made a strawberry topping. None of the filling/topping combinations we tried were entirely satisfactory leaving me eagerly awaiting this morning when I could try a cooked variation on the sweetened ricotta. Unfortunately, when I woke up, I wasn't hungry so I had to wait to make them until lunch. It was worth the wait as filling the crepes with the ricotta and then baking them did the trick.
Crepes (makes around 15)
3 eggs
1 cup of flour
1 cup of milk
1 tbs butter, melted then cooled so it doesn't cook the egg when added
1/4 tsp salt
a little bit of canola oil and a clean paper towel
Cat found this recipe in the Passionate Vegetarian. Beat the eggs soundly in a bowl. Add all other ingredients except the butter unless you really have let it cool and mix well. Now drizzle in the butter, which you really haven't let cool enough because you are too impatient to wait, while mixing. Let mixture sit for an hour at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.*
Heat a skillet on the stove over medium heat. Dot a bit of oil on the paper towel and quickly wipe it over the skillet. You will want to do this every two or three crepes. Add 2 1/2 to 3 tbs of crepe batter to the center of the skillet (I use 3/4 of a 1/4 cup for better speed). Roll or shake the skillet to spread out the crepe batter until you have rougly a 6 inch circle (I shake the pan until it starts thickening). Let crepe cook until it starts losing it's gloss on top (1 min?) and then I flip the crepe over. The previous bottom side should be just beginning to be getting some brown spots. Cook the other side of the crepe for about 30 seconds, then remove to a plate and start your next crepe.
* Oh no! I have to wait an hour! All crepe recipes seem to have this resting step which can be frustrating when you haven't planned for it. I generally wait about 45 minutes before continuing on. I did a web search trying to figure out why this is necessary. What I found is that the batter is left to sit so that the flour particles can absorb more liquid.
Sweetened Ricotta Filling (makes enough for 5 crepes**)
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 tbs sugar
1 egg (more eggs!)
We made this one up ourselves. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth.
**Ever wonder why hot dogs come in packs of 10 and hot dog buns come in packs of 8? Please scale this recipe to fit the number of filled crepes you plan on making.
Strawberry Topping (enough for 15 filled crepes)
1 cup fresh or thawed strawberries
2 tbs sugar
2 drops of lemon juice
This one is out of the Moosewood Cookbook. It calls for lemon or lime juice, but lime juice is a sacred substance to be only used in gin and tonics in our house. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Cheese Filled Crepes with Strawberry Topping
Crepes (see above)
Sweetened Ricotta Filling (see above)
Strawberry Topping (also see above)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spoon 2 tbs of ricotta filling in a thick line down the middle of the crepe. Leave some open space at the end. Fold crepe over ricotta and then "roll" up the rest of the way(roll is a bit generous here, more like fold again). Place crepes fold side down in a baking dish which has been pretreated with PAM. Once pan is full, cover and place in the oven for 20 minutes. When the cooking of filled crepes is nearing completion heat strawberry topping in microwave. Once baked, place crepes in pairs on plates and drizzle strawberry topping over them.
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