Lemon Cream Crepes

Lemon Cream Crepes

Important question. Are you team crepes or team pancakes? As much as I love a healthy stack of flapjacks, I’m going to have to go with crepes on this one. Better yet, I’m going with these Lemon Cream Crepes.

“HOLY YUM.” – Me, eating these crepes.

The bold flavor and varied textures combining the decadent lemon butter, crunchy lemon sugar, heavenly lemon-vanilla whipped cream,  and light, golden crepes make this dish SO DANG GOOD.

Much like hollandaise and béchamel, crepes fall into the “Intimidating to Make Because It’s French” category.

Not to make you even more nervous, but crepes are actually the national dish of France, or so I hear.

A big part of what gets me excited about cooking is learning the history and origins of a particular dish, and crepes, while simple, do have an interesting background.

According to an article by Gemma King from Epicure and Culture, Crepes most likely originated several centuries ago in the Brittany region in France. Originally, they were made with buckwheat flour as that was the type of wheat that could grow in the area. They were filled with a variety of ingredients depending on what was available. (Read more here!)

These days, crepes are typically made with all-purpose flour and can be made savory or sweet. If you want to fill these with veggies and cheese, just leave out the vanilla and sugar from the crepe recipe below.

The famous Crepes Suzette recipe (crepes with sugar, orange, and flambéed with liquor), was actually invented by a fourteen year old waiter – by accident. He thought he had ruined the dish when he flambéed the crepes. Instead, it created the perfect flavor and sauce. (Read the full story here!)

So if a teenager can make a delicious crepe dish by pure chance, there’s no reason we can’t.

However, I’d be VERY careful flambéing a dish if you haven’t done it before or don’t have a lot of practice. I, too, have flambéed my food by accident, and it was terrifying.

Stick to this no fire involved recipe, at least until you get very skilled in the kitchen.

Crepes are even easier to make than pancakes. They have fewer ingredients and cook more quickly because of how thin they are.

Sure, learning how to swirl the crepe batter in the pan and finding that perfect cooking temperature will take a bit of practice. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.

This is a small batch crepe recipe. You know, for the days when you don’t need to make 43 crepes for breakfast.

I always get exactly six crepes from the batter using a 10 inch sauté pan and a 1/3 cup measure. It’s the perfect amount for a party of three, two, or a particularly ravenous one. (No comment.)

The crepes are absolutely delicious on their own, and please feel free to enjoy them in all of their delicate simplicity.

But why go home when you can go extra?

I take the crepes to the next level by brushing them with a bit of lemon infused butter. Then, I sprinkle them with a crunchy lemon-sugar, and finally, I fill them with a light and bright lemon-vanilla whipped cream.

The lemon is not playing small in this recipe, so I hope you love the flavor. I know I do.

Know that the batter is quite thin in this recipe. A thin batter allows for us to put a small amount in the pan and swirl it around to get a nice, thin “pancake.” I love when crepes get those tiny little holes and nice crispy edges. The thinner you swirl it, the greater likelihood you’ll be able to achieve that tiny crater-like texture.

If you’ve never made crepes before, I invite you to try this recipe! The additional components in the dish really take it over the top and make it special. These would be perfect to make for a brunch, a birthday breakfast, Mother’s Day, or any other occasion where decadent breakfasts are warranted.

Bon Appetit!