Bon Appetit Desserts (121 page)

Walnut Crepes with Raspberries and Dried Figs

In Provence, crepes are often served simply, embellished with just sugar, jam, or liqueur. Here, the addition of walnuts and orange peel to the crepe batter adds a bit of flair, and a fig and raspberry filling flavored with Muscat and vanilla bean dresses them up even more. If Muscat is unavailable, Essensia, a sweet orange Muscat wine made in California, is a great substitute.
6 servings

½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1½ cups chopped dried Calimyrna figs

1 12-ounce package frozen raspberries (about 3 cups), thawed, juices reserved

1 cup Muscat

1 cup water

¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel

1 cup (or more) whole milk

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

3 large eggs

¼ cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel

¼ teaspoon salt

Additional melted butter

Additional sugar

1 8-ounce container crème fraîche or sour cream

2 tablespoons honey

FILLING
: Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into heavy medium saucepan; add bean. Add figs, raspberries with juices, Muscat, 1 cup water, brown sugar, honey, and orange peel. Bring to simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer over medium heat until figs are tender, about 30 minutes. Cool. Remove vanilla bean.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

CREPES
: Combine 1 cup milk, flour, eggs, walnuts, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, orange peel, and salt in blender. Blend until smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of blender. Cover and chill batter in blender 2 hours. Reblend batter 5 seconds. If necessary, thin batter with additional milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, to consistency of heavy cream.

Place paper towel on plate. Heat 9-inch-diameter nonstick skillet with 7-inch-diameter bottom over medium-high heat. Brush skillet with additional melted butter. Pour scant ¼ cup crepe batter into skillet, tilting skillet quickly to coat bottom. Cook until top of crepe appears dry and bottom is golden, loosening sides of crepe with spatula, about 35 seconds. Turn crepe over; cook until brown spots appear on bottom, about 20 seconds. Turn crepe out onto prepared plate. Repeat with remaining batter. Stack crepes on plate, layering between paper towels.

Brush 13×9×2-inch glass baking dish with melted butter. Spoon generous 2 tablespoons filling onto center of spotted side of 1 crepe. Spread filling over crepe, leaving 1-inch plain border. Fold crepe in half, then fold in half again, forming triangle shape. Place filled crepe in prepared dish. Repeat with remaining crepes and filling, overlapping crepes slightly in dish. Brush crepes lightly with melted butter. Sprinkle lightly with additional sugar. Cover dish with foil. Stir crème fraîche and honey in small bowl to blend.

DO AHEAD
:
Crepes and honey crème fraîche can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and chill.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crepes, covered, until heated through, about 20 minutes. Place 2 crepes on each of 6 plates. Top with dollop of honey crème fraîche and serve.

Tropical Fruit Crepes with Vanilla Bean and Rum Butter Sauce

This recipe requires a bit of last-minute assembly. Line up the components and corral a few guests to help so that everything goes smoothly.
6 servings

1 cup whole milk

½ cup cornstarch

¼ cup unbleached all purpose flour

3 large eggs

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt

½ cup sugar

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt

3 tablespoons dark rum

2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter

½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 cup ¾-inch cubes peeled cored fresh pineapple

¼ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 cup ¾-inch cubes peeled seeded papaya (from about 1 large)

1 cup ¾-inch cubes peeled pitted mango (from about 1 large)

CREPES
: Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Cover and chill in blender 4 hours. Reblend for 5 seconds before using.

Line plate with paper towel or parchment paper. Heat 9-inch-diameter nonstick skillet with 7-inch-diameter bottom over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons crepe batter to skillet; tilt and swirl skillet to spread batter evenly over bottom. Cook until center of crepe is cooked through and edges are lightly browned, about 1 minute. Run spatula around crepe and invert onto prepared plate. Repeat with remaining batter, layering crepes between paper towels or sheets of parchment paper.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

RUM BUTTER SAUCE
: Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and coarse salt in medium bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add rum and beat until well blended.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

TROPICAL FRUIT
: Place butter in large nonstick skillet. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean and stir over medium-high heat until butter melts. Add pineapple, sugar, and coarse salt; stir until sugar dissolves and pineapple and pan juices are lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Remove from heat.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Place crepe stack (with paper towels between crepes) on rimmed baking sheet. Cover baking sheet with foil. Warm crepes in oven until heated through, about 15 minutes. Place rum butter sauce in small saucepan; heat over medium heat until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. Rewarm pineapple mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Stir in papaya and mango. Remove vanilla bean.

Place 1 crepe on plate, browned side down; spoon 2 teaspoons rum butter sauce over, then fold crepe into quarters. Repeat with 2 more crepes on same plate. Spoon tropical fruit over. Repeat with remaining crepes, rum butter sauce, and tropical fruit, placing 3 crepes on each of 6 plates. Spoon any remaining rum butter sauce over crepes and serve.

Crepes with Brown Sugar Pears and Chocolate Sauce

For a tasty twist, serve the crepes with caramel sauce instead of chocolate sauce (such as the one on page 503) and sprinkle them with toasted pecans. Since this recipe makes extra crepes, cool and stack any leftovers, separating them with sheets of plastic wrap and storing them in the refrigerator in a resealable plastic bag. The next day, just rewarm the crepes in the microwave and serve them with jam or maple syrup for breakfast.
6 servings

1½ cups whole milk

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus additional for brushing

Brown Sugar Pears (see recipe)

Vanilla ice cream

Chocolate Sauce (see recipe)

Combine milk, flour, eggs, sugar, and salt in blender. Blend until smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of blender, about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon melted butter; blend 30 seconds. Cover and chill crepe batter in blender at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. Reblend batter 5 seconds.

Heat 10-inch-diameter nonstick skillet with 8-inch-diameter bottom over medium-high heat. Brush with melted butter. Pour ¼ cup batter into skillet, tilting skillet quickly to coat bottom evenly. Cook until top of crepe appears dry and bottom is golden, loosening edges of crepe with heatproof spatula, about 45 seconds. Turn crepe over; cook until brown spots appear on bottom, about 30 seconds. Transfer to plate. Top with plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing skillet with more butter as needed and layering cooked crepes between sheets of plastic wrap.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic; chill.

Preheat broiler. Line baking sheet with foil; brush with melted butter. Place 1 crepe on prepared baking sheet. Place 3 slices of warm Brown Sugar Pears side by side on 1 quarter of crepe, allowing pear slices to extend slightly over edge of crepe. Fold crepe in half over pear slices. Place 3 more pear slices on crepe above first 3 slices. Fold crepe in half over pears, forming triangle shape. Repeat with 5 crepes and pear slices. Brush crepes with some of pear syrup.

Broil crepes just until heated through and golden, watching closely to avoid burning, about 1½ minutes. Transfer to plates. Arrange any remaining pear slices atop crepes. Spoon pear syrup over. Place scoop of ice cream alongside. Drizzle with warm Chocolate Sauce. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.

Brown Sugar Pears