Monday, April 17, 2006
Sweet Crepes with Nutella and Banana
Tonight, I took another crack at making sweet crepes with Nutella and banana. I started with Alton Brown's recipe from the Food Network and modified it as follows:
I hate reading recipes where certain details are assumed, so whenever I post I'm going to list out all the detail that I think is missing from the above. To begin with, when blending the ingredients I found that after ten seconds of pulsing I needed to scrape some of the flower from the sides of the blender and then blend again to get it all mixed together.
On my current electric stove, I cooked all of the above at a "7," and it was important that I got the pan good and hot between each crepe.
Just after flipping the crepes, while the other side was cooking, I'd spread a thin layer of Nutella on the entire crepe. I'd then take thinly sliced pieces of banana and place them over half the crepe just before folding it in half, pushing down on the half crepe, and removing from the pan.
Interestingly, I didn't use Nutella, but instead used Loacker, which appears to be the organic equivalent. They don't sell Nutella at Whole Foods, but they do have this stuff. If anything, it was a better Nutella, but I wouldn't say the difference is worth going out of your way to find it. The other difference between Nutella and Loacker is in thickness -- Loacker is noticeably thicker.
The crepes came out really well -- very similar to what I've eaten at the French crepe places that serve this classic sweet crepe. Jen and I enjoyed these with some 2004 Dashe Late Harvest Zinfandel that paired quite well with the chocolate flavor that dominated the dessert.
2 large eggsI actually only used about a third of the batter tonight -- the rest is in the 'fridge and will be used over the next few days.
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Chambord
In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.Heat a small (I used a normal/large) non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce (I used 1/4 cup) of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds (in my case 2 minutes was correct) and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds (minute and a half) .
I hate reading recipes where certain details are assumed, so whenever I post I'm going to list out all the detail that I think is missing from the above. To begin with, when blending the ingredients I found that after ten seconds of pulsing I needed to scrape some of the flower from the sides of the blender and then blend again to get it all mixed together.
On my current electric stove, I cooked all of the above at a "7," and it was important that I got the pan good and hot between each crepe.
Just after flipping the crepes, while the other side was cooking, I'd spread a thin layer of Nutella on the entire crepe. I'd then take thinly sliced pieces of banana and place them over half the crepe just before folding it in half, pushing down on the half crepe, and removing from the pan.
Interestingly, I didn't use Nutella, but instead used Loacker, which appears to be the organic equivalent. They don't sell Nutella at Whole Foods, but they do have this stuff. If anything, it was a better Nutella, but I wouldn't say the difference is worth going out of your way to find it. The other difference between Nutella and Loacker is in thickness -- Loacker is noticeably thicker.
The crepes came out really well -- very similar to what I've eaten at the French crepe places that serve this classic sweet crepe. Jen and I enjoyed these with some 2004 Dashe Late Harvest Zinfandel that paired quite well with the chocolate flavor that dominated the dessert.
