The name, crepe, comes from Old French ‘crespe’ which traces back to the Latin ‘crispa’ or ‘crispus’ which means curled. This probably refers to their often slightly ruffled edges. Although crepes seem to have originated in France, you can find crepes and variations of crepes in many other countries.
Our family enjoys eating crepes with maple syrup for breakfast or at dinner with a cheese or meat filling. Crepes are very easy to make and can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen. You can use a nonstick frying pan or a cast iron frying pan instead of purchasing a crepe maker. Our family prefers to use the cast iron pan to get those crispy edges.
Apple Pie Crepes
Crepe Recipe:
3 large eggs room temperature
2 cups whole milk at room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted plus extra for the pan
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
Instructions:
- Place the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until the yolks are broken up. Add the milk and salt and whisk until well combined. Add the sugar and whisk until the sugar is dissolved.
- Sift the flour into the liquid ingredients in two batches, gently whisking after each addition until the flour is completely mixed.
- After all the flour is added, it is okay if there are small lumps of flour. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter whisking as the butter is added to the batter. The batter should be thin, about the consistency of heavy cream.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least one hour or overnight. As soon as you pull the batter from the refrigerator, add the vanilla extract.
- Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. The pan is ready when you sprinkle water into the pan and the drops of water dance across the surface. Reduce the heat to medium. Brush the surface of the pan with melted butter, using a heatproof pastry brush.
- Pour 1/4 cup of batter in the center of the pan and gently swirl in around until the batter completely covers the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Cook the crepe on the first side for about 2 minutes until the edges are browned and the crepe has lightly browned.
- Use an offset spatula to gently loosen the crepe from the pan and gently shake the pan back and forth to completely loosen the crepe. Use a thin spatula to flip the crepe over and cook on the other side for 45 to 60 seconds.
- Slide the crepe out of the pan onto a large baking sheet. Cook the rest of the crepes and place them on the same baking sheet overlapping the crepes.
Apple Filling:
2 pounds Granny Smith apples or your favorite baking apple
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions:
- Place the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Peel and chop the apples into 1-inch cubes. Place them in a bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice and toss the apples to coat them.
- Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, when it starts to bubble add the brown sugar and stir until the brown sugar-butter mixture until the sugar is thoroughly mixed in with the butter and just starts to bubble.
- Add the apples in a single layer, turn the heat up to medium-high heat and cook the apples until half the liquid evaporates. Add the spice mixture and stir to mix in the spices and continue to cook the apples until most of the liquid has evaporated and a thick syrup remains.
- Occasionally stir the apples to make sure they don’t burn, but for the most part let them cook undisturbed so they caramelize.
- Remove the apples from the heat and spoon them into a wide bowl. Scrape the pan to get all the syrup.
Assembling the Crepes
You can either spoon some of the apple filling on the lower half of a crepe and then roll the crepe into a cylinder. Top with sweetened whipped cream. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Or
Place the apple filling in the center of the crepe and fold the crepes in half and top with whipped cream or ice cream. Fold the crepes into quarters, spoon the apple filling on top and top with whipped cream, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.