Desserts – Crêpes with Bananas and Orange Sauce
Whether they are filled with Peking duck and spring onions and dipped into hoisin sauce, or blended with fines herbes and wrapped around mushrooms or served with Nutella and bananas from a street stall in Paris – we all love to eat crêpes.
Cooking them is quite a different matter. American-style pancakes use a much thicker batter and are easier to work with. No wonder it’s a favourite with children when they first start cooking. We look at crêpes and tell ourselves we could never do it.
It can be a little hit and miss when first starting out. When I was learning, I was always advised to expect that the first crêpe cooked would always be underdone and should be binned. The trick for great crêpes is a good, clean, non-stick pan with no wonks or wobbles in the base, a great batter made in advance and the heat regulated at an even temperature. Oh, and patience to make them one at a time.
Or, you can just buy them pre-made in the supermarket. After all, you have a life.
Light and lacy though they are, crêpes are tremendously strong and useful when wrapped around tasty fillings. The trend these days is to stack the crêpes one on top of the other, sandwiched together with great fillings. Stephanie Alexander famously does a sensational crêpe layered ‘cake’ with lemon curd and cream; Karen Martini does something similar with hazelnuts and chocolate. Or, you can just cook some bananas in brown sugar, orange juice and Tia Maria and serve the sauce over the top of some crêpes while you’re camping and in need of something other than baked beans and damper. It sounds crazy, but it really is how I came up with the following dish. As for why it was that I was camping and had a stash of Tia Maria – well, that’s another story.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
Crepes: 150g plain flour; 1 3/4 cups milk; 2 eggs, at room temperature, lightly whisked; 10g (2 tsp) butter, melted; extra milk (optional); 3 tbsp melted butter, extra
8 crêpes, either home-made or purchased, folded in quarters and kept warm; 60g butter; 1/2 cup soft brown sugar; zest and juice of 1 lemon; zest and juice of 2 navel oranges; 1/4 cup Tia Maria or Kahlua (optional); 4 small or 2 large bananas
METHOD
Crêpes: Sift flour into a medium mixing bowl and make a well in centre. Place the milk and eggs in a measuring jug and use a fork to whisk until combined. Pour about 1/2 cup of the milk mixture into flour and then use a wooden spoon to gradually incorporate some of the flour. Continue to gradually add the milk mixture until all the flour is incorporated and a thin batter forms. Add the melted butter and use a balloon whisk to lightly whisk until smooth – don’t overwhisk the batter as this may toughen the gluten in the flour, resulting in rubbery crepes.
Cover batter with clingwrap and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. This will help to “relax” the gluten, resulting in tender crêpes. It will also develop the flavour. The batter will thicken slightly during standing and you may need to stir in a little extra milk (about 1 tbs) just before cooking – it should be the consistency of thin cream.
Heat a non-stick frying pan, about 20cm in diameter, over a low to medium heat. Brush some melted butter on the hot pan – don’t overdo it. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and scoop up the batter. Pour into the centre of the pan and tilt the pan so the batter coats the entire surface.This way you will have evenly sized crêpes.
After about 1 minute, the edges of the crêpe should be a little browned and the crêpe should be cooked and a light golden brown underneath. I use my fingers to carefully pull the crêpe up and flip it over. If you prefer, use an egg slice. Only the very brave should toss a crêpe over. Cook for another minute only then transfer the cooked crêpe to a warm baking tray which has been lined with baking paper and keep warm.
Brush the pan again with melted butter and repeat until the batter has been used up. You may have to turn the heat down if the crêpes brown too quickly or start to burn.
Banana and Orange Sauce
In a small non-stick fry-pan, melt the butter then add the sugar and zest and stir until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes stirring gently until the sugar starts to caramelise. With the pan tilted away from you, add the juice (it will spit) and stir until incorporated into the syrup. Peel bananas, cut into slices and add to the saucepan in one layer so they are covered by the syrup. Pour in the Tia Maria if you are using it and flambé, shaking the pan.
To serve, place two warmed crêpes on a dessert plate, pour over sauce and a spoonful of the banana slices, and eat while warm with some ice cream on the side.
COST
$7.60 for four people
FREEZE/STORAGE
This batter makes up to 16 crêpes – you can freeze crêpes by stacking them with a layer of greaseproof paper between each crêpe then storing in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to two months.
I’m Russian, and crepes or blini as we call them are our national dish. The proper way to make them calls for use of yeast, and the batter alone will take a couple of hours to prepare. It will produce the most delicious, thin and lacy crepes ever! However, you need all day to make them, so they are a weekend only affair, but I sometimes use the simplified recipe if my family want some fresh blini. The base is the same as yours – flour, milk and eggs. I only use 2 eggs per 0.5 litre of milk and I do add a bit of salt and sugar to the batter and a raising agent, such as baking powder to make the batter lighter and fluffier. I would also suggest swapping butter for vegetable oil (a couple of tablespoons is enough). That way you won’t need to grease the pan between the crepes.
You don’t have to use a non-stick pan, I use stainless steel ones, and I always make 2 or 3 crepes at ones (using 2 or 3 pans of course). I brush my hot crepes with a little bit of melted butter and stack them on a plate (no need to use baking paper between them either).