Oh Crêpe

I’d like to say that my boyfriend and I have become quite the café connoisseurs. We spend many-a-weekend wandering through new cafés, testing out the vibes and the coffee (or chai), and planning out ideal cafés in our heads. Of course, we’ve wandered into some pretty lousy coffee shops. But, we’ve also spent hours in cafés where the vibes are just right and the food is as comforting as the atmosphere.

One such café is Café Chocolate in Lititz, Pa.

Café Chocolate’s ambiance was relaxing with 50’s music playing softly in the background and used books tucked away on wooden bookshelves. The drinks were organic and delicious and served in tall, chilled glasses. And the food—my goodness—the food was my favorite part.

I ordered the fruit-filled crêpe, which I devoured in approximately 3 seconds. The crepe itself was made of simple sugars, organic wheat flour, milk and eggs, the filling consisted of grapes, strawberries, kiwis, bananas and pineapples, and drizzled over the entire entree was dark chocolate. Not only was it delicious, it was beautiful.

Ever since I devoured that delightful dessert crêpe, I’ve been thinking about what I do wrong when I make crêpes at home. Though I’ve been making crêpes for years, I never, ever do anything as creative with my crepes as Café Chocolate did with theirs. So, I’ve come up with a few café-quality crêpes that you can make DIY in the comfort of your own home.

First of all, you’ll need to know how to make the crêpe itself. Here is the recipe that I use:

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1 ⅓ cups whole milk

¾ cups flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter- melted

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in a blender and let sit for 1 hour.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat.

Melt a tablespoon of butter and brush a small amount of butter onto the pan.

Using a ladle, scoop some batter into the pan and immediately swirl the pan around so that the batter covers the entire pan.

Let the pan sit on medium heat until the batter begins to turn yellow and starts to form a few small bubbles. This shouldn’t take any longer than 45 seconds to a minute.

Once the batter is yellow, use a spatula to flip the crêpe in the pan.

Let the crêpe sit for another 30-45 seconds and then slide the crêpe off of the pan and onto a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil.

Then... do it again!! This recipe should make between 8-12 crêpes. You can use parchment paper or foil to separate the crêpes.

Once your crêpes cool down, you can add your filling and indulge on your own creation.

Now, onto the filling.

Usually when I make crêpes, I fill them with bananas and peanut butter, or strawberries, bananas and Nutella. But because of my desire to create unique, café-quality crêpes, I have come up with three delicious crêpes that are sure to make your mouth water.

Apple Pie Crêpe

• Ingredients: Apples, cinnamon, caramel, brown-sugar, powered sugar

• Directions: Heat the apples in a skillet or in the microwave until soft. Add caramel sauce to the center of the crêpe, put the hot apples on top of the caramel, and then sprinkle some cinnamon and brown-sugar on top of the apples. Roll the crêpe and shake powered sugar on top.

Berry Cheesecake Crêpe

• Ingredients: Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cream cheese, graham crackers, dark chocolate syrup

• Directions: Put cream cheese in the center of the crêpe. Add the raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Sprinkle graham crackers on top of the berries. Once the filling is complete, roll the crêpe and drizzle it with dark chocolate syrup. If desired, add graham cracker crumbs.

Hawaiian Crêpe

• Ingredients: Shredded cheddar and provolone cheese, ham, pineapple chunks, and BBQ sauce

• Directions: Put the shredded cheddar and provolone cheese in the center of the crêpe. Add cubed ham and pineapple chunks. Roll the crêpe and put it in the microwave for 45 seconds. Once the crêpe has been heated and the cheese has been melted, drizzle BBQ sauce on top!

So there you have it, three café-quality crêpes that you can make in your own kitchen and serve to your family and friends.

Bon appétit!