Crepes Filled with Caramelized Apples and Served with Maple Crème Fraîche
Editor's Note: Make any event even more special when you make this recipe for Crepes Filled with Caramelized Apples and Served with Maple Crème Fraîche! Your guests will love eating this delicate dish when served along with coffee or tea, and you will love using this recipe for brunch or dessert. The maple crème fraîche will be a delightful twist on the standard crepe filling recipe, too.
Crêpe batter is a busy cook’s best friend. I like to make a batch (I use Julia Child’s recipe) every few weeks and keep it in the refrigerator. Depending on our mood, that batter can be the basis of dinner (filled with savory treats like cheese, sausage, and vegetables), breakfast, or dessert, which is how I use it in this dish. The delicate pancakes are filled with caramelized apples and a sprinkling of brown sugar, then topped with maple-sweetened cream.
Serves12 crêpes; about 6 servings
Cooking Time35 min
CostModerate
Total Timeunder 1 hour
Make Ahead RecipeYes
Kid FriendlyYes
OccasionCasual Dinner Party, Cooking for a date, Family Get Together, Formal Dinner Party
Recipe CourseDessert
MealBreakfast, Brunch, Dinner
Taste and TextureCreamy, Fruity, Sweet
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 ml) cold water
- 1 cup (240 ml) cold milk (whole, 2%, or 1%)
- 4 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick; 57g) salted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil for cooking
- Blender
- 6- to 7-inch skillet or crêpe pan
- 6 ounces (¾ cup, or 170g) creme fraiche (I like Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery brand)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons (42g) salted butter
- 2½ pounds (about 5, or 1.13 kg) firm-sweet apples (see Notes), peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch cubes
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ cup (120 ml) fresh apple cider, divided
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 cups Caramelized Apples
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
Instructions
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Put all the crepe batter ingredients (water, milk, eggs, salt, flour, and butter) in your blender jar. Cover and blend at high speed for 1 minute, stopping several times to scrape down the sides and bottom of the jar to loosen any bits of flour that may have stuck to the glass. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
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Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the crème fraîche and maple syrup. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
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To make the Caramelized Apples, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples and spices and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are softened and lightly browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the apple cider and cook, stirring often, until the cider reduces to a glaze, about 3 minutes. Add half the maple syrup and the sugar and cook, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened and glossy and the apples are tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Finish with the remaining maple syrup, stir, and serve.
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Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and set a rack to the middle position. Put a skillet or crepe pan over medium-high heat and brush with a thin layer of oil. Remove the pan from the heat and hold it in one hand while using the other to scoop out ¼ cup of batter and pour it into the pan. Quickly tilt the pan in all directions to get the batter to spread out in a very thin 6-inch-wide circle. Return the pan to the heat just until the crepe is golden brown on the bottom, about a minute. Use a spatula to loosen the crepe and use your hands to gently flip it over. Cook just until the crepe is no longer raw on that side, about 30 seconds. Slide it out onto a large plate and cover with foil. Put it in the oven to keep warm as you cook the rest of the crepes using the same method.
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To assemble the crepes, fill each with ¼ cup Caramelized Apples and a sprinkling of brown sugar. Fold the sides up over the filling, turn the crepe seam side down, transfer to a serving plate, and top with a dollop of Maple Crème Fraîche.
Apple Notes
As long as the apples are sweet and hold their shape when cooked, they’ll work beautifully, so any firm-sweet variety is good.
Make-Ahead Tip
The apples will keep, covered, for several days in the refrigerator. You can prepare the batter up to two days ahead of cooking.
2011 Amy Traverso
