Holy Crepe



A bit high maintenance, yes, but when done, still hot, these thin slices of sweet dough can wrap around just about anything the imagination can come up with, like the commonly found recipe for spoons-full of gooey Nutella chocolate, or what we tried last weekend, summer berries and raspberry coulis.

I don't think we could ever forget the first time we were introduced to the idea of crepes as a sort of dessert / snack, in Juan Le Pins (Wan La Pohn) France,

near Antibes, right on that stretch of what is considered the gold coast region of the Mediterranean where strolling around the boardwalk under palms, up and down public and private beaches, and into town at the shops is in itself a sun soaked experience. We stopped at a Grand Marnier station

and ended up with a crepe that was devilish on so many fronts: sweet dough, liquid chocolate,

a hint of liquor, and swirls of whipped cream if wanted.  Some years later we were able to offer close to the same holy crepe experience to the kids in Seattle when we pilgrimaged to Pikes Place Market

at a neat little side cafe called Crepe de France, but it lacked the sunshine and...France.  If something is holy, well, then, you keep coming back to it though for sustenance and guidance; it was time to try our own.

Our recipe out of Eggs by Michel Roux called for the combination of flour, super fine sugar (unlike the terribly dull type I guess) eggs, milk and heavy cream, stirred "but not over stirred," and to sit for an hour until, at that point, you add some shavings of lemon zest (this eventually adds very distinct taste).  Cooking the crepes without specific crepe equipment is the trick.  Heat a small round fry pan to a bit lower than medium – don't want to burn on contact, but also need to cook quickly – and dollop dough in the center and quickly toss it around to the edges so to form a perfect round,

then let sit until small bubbles form.  Next, the flip, is by far the most difficult part for a new holy creper.  Because we didn't have a spatula quite thin or wide enough, we finally tried picking up the outer edges with our fingers and, as if with a small sheet, laying the crepe back down quickly into its spot before the weight of itself tore it apart.  Place each crepe on waxed paper and stack.  Serving warm seems to be a good idea.  Our berry coulis was in essence berry puree and sugar reduced in water, which, looking back at it, just didn't provide enough sweetness and the native raspberry tartness was somewhat overpowering.  For another batch, I think I would prepare a strawberry mixture

similar to that for shortcake and voila, you might have a thinner, richer, more citrusy version of the dessert classic. Drizzles of warmed Nutella over that might make it close to a religious experience.