Crepes: Breakfast, some assembly required.

Having some overnight guests for New Years?  Here’s one of my favorite easy-yet-elegant breakfasts: crepes.  The batter and filling (and even the crepes themselves) can be made in advance, and they can be dressed up in any number of ways.  You can easily offer several options of filling to please different tastes.

Don’t think you’ll be up to frying crepes first thing New Years Day?  They keep well—just fry them in advance, pop the whole stack into a ziplock bag, and refrigerate up to a couple of days.  Reheat for about thirty seconds on each side in a hot skillet or a few seconds (no more than ten on high) in the microwave.

The trickiest part about crepes is getting the skillet temperature just right.  Too hot, and they will have a coarse, pebbly texture; not hot enough, and they will not be as tender and flexible as they should be.  It usually takes me a few crepes to get it just right, but you know what?  The ‘duds’ are still tasty—just eat the evidence.

It’s even easier to make up a filling in advance—then, you need only assemble the crepes the morning you plan to serve them.  The fillings I use most often are cream cheese, ricotta cheese or cottage cheese, depending on what I have to work with.  The cream cheese goes especially well with stronger flavors, such as apple or pumpkin butter, while the ricotta is good with delicate flavors such as pear.

The filling can really be anything that you want it to—whipped cream and a pile of fresh fruit work well, too.

 

Just add your choice of fillings, then roll them up, garnish and serve.

Breakfast Crepes

Crepes (recipe follows)
Cheese filling (recipe follows)
Fresh fruit or fruit preserves
Syrup or honey (optional)
Powdered sugar (optional)
Additional fruit for garnish (optional)

To prepare the crepes, spread some cheese filling down the center of a crepe.  Alongside the cheese filling, add fresh fruit or a fruit filling such as pear butter or stewed apples.  Roll up, and dust with powdered sugar and/or drizzle with homemade syrup or honey.  Garnish with fresh fruit, if desired.

Cheese Filling

2 cups ricotta cheese
OR 2 cups cottage cheese
OR 1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened + 1/2 cup sour cream + 1-2 tbsp. milk

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine whichever cheese you are using with the remaining ingredients.  For the cottage cheese variation, process in blender if a smoother texture is desired.  Chill.

Crepes

(from a recipe in The Southern Living Cookbook)

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Beat eggs until light and frothy; beat in milk, salt and flour.  Stir in butter.  (Alternatively, process all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.)

Cover batter and chill for an hour.

Heat a lightly oiled small skillet or crepe pan over medium heat.  Pour several tablespoons of batter into the pan, and quickly tilt around to spread the batter in an even, thin layer over the pan.  Cook for one or two minutes, until crepe loosens easily and underside is just lightly browned.

Flip the crepe and cook briefly on second side (brown spots will form—place filling on this side).  Continue until all batter is used.  Makes about 16-18 6-inch crepes.