For Saturday morning brunch, I felt the need for something that would seem like a luxurious treat but would actually be really simple to make. The answer is crepes! Some people would say these are more a dessert than a breakfast food but I say they are as much of a real food as doughnut, right? If you insist on having something more substantial with your crepes then make a savory crepe and fill with eggs or cheese or even some sausage or bacon. Crepes are extremely versatile!
A couple of notes on crepes:
- It is best to let the batter rest in the fridge for atleast 30 minutes before cooking the crepes. In fact, you can make the batter up to two days ahead of time, so it's perfect for a brunch gathering.
- Yes, it helps to have a little omelet or crepe pan. These are cheap, though, and worth it.
- Please don't be intimidated by crepes! If you've ever made pancakes then you can make these.
Anywho, I used the sweet crepe recipe from "Joy of Cooking" and just added some orange zest to the batter (about a tablespoon). I made a raspberry sauce using fresh raspberries, a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar, 3 teaspoons of water, another tablespoon of orange zest, and two tablespoons of Harry & David's Orgegold Peach jam. I just heated it (not to boiling), mashing up the berries with spoon and stirring together. We also spread some of the Kumbe African chocolate sauce on the crepes (I got it at the St. Paul Farmer's Market last summer, but you can buy it online here: http://www.localharvest.org/store/item.jsp?id=1320)
Unfortunately, I'm not making too many desserts lately. It's sad because I enjoy baking and other desserts but, as I mentioned, we're trying to eat better around these parts. The pic above is the berry crisp I made from black raspberries, rhubarb and strawberries. The crisp topping is mostly oats with a little butter, sugar, and flour. Bake at 350 until the top is browned and the fruit is bubbling.
The above is a lazy way to assemble a crepe, I will admit. Melanie had just made a fresh batch and I didn't feel like rolling them up neatly.
This last one really isn't a healthy dessert. I mean, I guess it has oats and nuts in it. Does that count? I took the standard Tollhouse cookie bar recipe and made some substitutions. I used a 1/4 cup of oats to replace some of the flour. I also had three half bags of chips to use up (butterscotch, peanut butter, mini-chocolate chips. Am I the only one who ends up with these pathetic half or quarter bags of random chips?) and used half almonds/half walnuts instead of the pecans listed. Oh yeah - I also threw in half a bar of semisweet chocolate (a baking bar size, chopped). The end result was very good but I think the butterscotch chips made them a little sweeter than I would have liked.
