For weeks, maybe over a month, our baby girl has been taking epic 2-hour naps bright and early in the morning, a little over an hour after she gets up. During the week it allows me to get some work done. On the weekend, it allows my husband and I to lazily read the Sunday paper or make an extravagant breakfast. This past weekend we did the latter. We used some of our self-picked apples to make Caramelized Apple Crepes. You can use a mix for the crepe part, or, like us, if you discover you haven’t made crepes in a while and your mix expired 2 years ago, you can make them from scratch. Either way – SO GOOD!
Caramelized Apple Crepes
from Martha Stewart Living, October 1996
1/2 C all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 C milk
1 1/2 Tsp pure vanilla extract
6 Tbs unsalted butter
6 crisp apples, such as Mutsu, peeled, quartered, and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 Tbs grated lemon zest (1 lemon)
2 Tbs lemon juice (1 lemon)
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
1/2 Tsp ground ginger
6 Tbs sugar
3 Tbs Calvados or brandy
1 C creme fraiche (we didn’t use creme fraiche)
3 Tbs confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
In a medium bowl, sift together flour and salt. Whisk in eggs, egg yolk, and about 1 tablespoon milk, forming a smooth batter with a pastelike consistency. Add remaining milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla; mix until no lumps remain. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a nonstick skillet, and stir into the batter; leave a film of butter in the skillet. Let the batter rest at room temperature about 30 minutes.
Heat oven to warm. Over medium-low heat, warm the skillet thoroughly. Stir batter, and carefully ladle about 1/4 cup batter into skillet. Rotate skillet so batter spreads out and thinly coats the bottom and edges of the skillet. Return skillet to heat, and cook crepe until edges turn golden brown and lacy, and start to pull away from the skillet, about 2 minutes.
Using a knife or an offset spatula, carefully turn crepe over; cook other side until just golden, 30 to 40 seconds. Slide the crepe onto a heat-proof plate. Repeat with the remaining batter, stirring it before making another crepe. Stack cooked crepes on top of one another. Loosely cover plate of crepes with aluminum foil, and place in the oven to keep warm.
Place apples in a medium bowl. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, and ginger. Toss to coat.
Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet set over medium heat. Add granulated sugar, and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar turns amber in color, about 5 minutes. If caramel starts to get too dark, remove skillet from heat. Add apples, and cook, turning apples over, until soft and completely caramelized. Pour Calvados into a measuring cup, then pour into skillet. Carefully ignite the alcohol, and allow the flame to burn out, 2 to 3 minutes, shaking skillet to toss the apples in the syrup. Remove apples from heat; let cool slightly.
Combine creme fraiche, remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip mixture until light, fluffy, and almost doubled in volume.
Remove the crepes from oven, and transfer to six serving plates. Spoon a scant 1/2 cup caramelized apples onto each crepe, and dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Spoon a generous amount of creme-fraiche mixture over apples. Fold crepes, and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Styled by Jess 