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The recipes in our series “Homemade Gourmet" take the thought and time out of cooking without sacrificing their flavor or gourmet appeal. This strawberry crepe recipe, from Christina Lane of Dessert for Two, is filled with Harry & David strawberries and homemade whipped cream, making it perfect to serve for a sweet spring brunch, fun dessert, or Mother's Day surprise!
My favorite way to celebrate spring is eating delicious breakfasts that are sweet and filling, and feature beautiful seasonal fruit. The gorgeous Harry & David strawberries are the best ingredient for that kind of breakfast. They're nearly as big as plums (no jive!), and are sweet, juicy, and red all the way through. They're so big, I sometimes snack on just one! And don't get me started on the chocolate covered ones....
Strawberries that are as close to perfection as these deserve to be enveloped in freshly whipped cream and folded into crepes. While crepes may seem intimidating, they're surprisingly easy to whip up.
Making the strawberry crepes
To make this crepe recipe, combine most of the ingredients in a blender, purée them until well mixed (about 30 seconds), and then let the batter rest for at least 5 minutes.
Pro tip: Let the batter rest overnight in the fridge and make the crepes the next morning. This will yield more tender crepes.
The strawberry and whipped cream filling has a few secret ingredients. About an hour before you plan to serve breakfast, slice up a few strawberries and toss them in a bowl with a spoonful of sugar or a drizzle of honey. The sugar will help bring out the natural juices of the berries and make them even sweeter. The whipped cream, on the other hand, will use a scoop of sour cream, with the tanginess of the sour cream enhancing the sweetness of the berries.
SERVINGS
- Blender
- Crepe pan or large nonstick skillet
- Electric mixer for whipped cream
- 5 large Harry & David strawberries
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 cups Whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 14 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- 34 cup heavy whipped cream
- 14 cup powdered sugar
- 14 cup sour cream
- 12 teaspoon vanilla extract
Place a bowl and the beaters from an electric mixer in the fridge. This is for whipping the cream later, as heavy cream whips best when it's very cold.
Slice the tops off each berry, and then slice each berry vertically in half and then into eighths.
Toss the berries with 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar in a bowl, then set aside.
In a blender, add the milk, eggs, remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, flour, salt, and 4 teaspoons of the melted butter. Save the rest of the butter for greasing the crepe pan.
Purée the mixture on high for about 30 seconds, then turn off the blender and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. You can also let it rest overnight in the fridge. The longer the batter rests, the more tender your crepes will be.
Warm your crepe pan or nonstick skillet over medium heat, and brush with some of the melted butter.
Ladle a 1/2 cup of the batter into the crepe pan, and then tilt the pan in a circle until the batter covers the surface.
Cook the crepe on the first side until it easily releases when you run a spatula around the edges. Loosen the entire crepe with the spatula before attempting to flip it.
Flip the crepe, then use the spatula to smooth it out if it wrinkled while flipping. Continue to cook on the second side until golden brown spots form.
Remove the crepe from the pan and place it on a paper towel-lined plate. Cook the rest of the batter (you should get about 5 more crepes if you're using a standard 10-inch crepe pan).
While the crepes rest, pour the heavy cream in the cold bowl from the fridge. Connect the beaters to an electric hand mixer and beat the cream until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes.
Add the powdered sugar, sour cream, and vanilla, and continue to beat the cream until the mixture is light and fluffy.
To serve, Place each crepe on a plate and spread 1/6 of the cream down the center of each in a line. Top with a spoonful of the berries. You can either fold the crepes into quarters or roll them up to serve. Spoon any leftover berries over the top of the crepes and serve.
AUTHOR
Christina Lane is a 4x cookbook author and blogger at Dessert for Two. She writes about cooking for two, and specializes in small batch desserts and dinners for two.