Crèpes with Brown Sugar Pears and Crème Fraiche

I lost control of the crème fraiche here, I freely admit it.  As I spooned the crème fraiche over these brown sugar pear crèpes a strange feeling came over me, I couldn't stop the flow and I didn't care.  It became torture taking these photos as all I wanted was a forkful of warm pear crèpe covered with crème fraiche.  Somewhere in the back of my brain I thought, what are you doing? You spent all this time putting these crèpes together and now you're covering your labor with an extreme flow of cream.  Was it because of my reckless desire to enjoy crème fraiche over warm pear crèpes or was it my rebellious side kicking in, determined to do exactly what I want, or was it both?  As you might imagine I don't keep any crème fraiche stocked in the fridge.  When I decided to make crèpes with my pears this week I thought about serving them with a chocolate sauce but that sounded too heavy, maybe in a few months when it's colder outside, then my thoughts turned to my favorite sauce for every dessert with warm fruit I make, you guessed it, crème fraiche.  Blame it on France where they're happy to sell you a large container  of the stuff to pour over your fresh strawberries or Tarte Tatin, without any warnings from the Surgeon General informing you about it's addictive nature.  Just a quick aside, if you visit France it's worth renting an apartment or a room where you have access to a fridge to keep your own stash of this luscious cream.

I love Bartlett pears sautéed in butter, brown sugar and lemon juice, they would also be good served over vanilla ice cream. But, the crèpes were fun to make and once you get into full swing with your production they go pretty fast.  Any left overs are delicious warmed up served with jam or cinnamon sugar for breakfast or for an after school snack with chocolate milk.  Ask my grandson Noah, he loved them.

Yes, I finally did take that first bite, was it worth all the angst?  Yes, of course it was and I'm pretty sure I still have a small stash of crème fraiche in the fridge, at least enough for an omelette à la crème fraiche.

Ingredients And Directions For Crèpes With Brown Sugar Pears And Crème Fraiche
Adapted from Bon Appétit Desserts


For The Crèpes

1 & 1/2 Cups whole milk
1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 Large eggs
2 Teaspoons sugar
1/4 Teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for brushing the crepe pan

Combine milk, flour, flour, eggs, sugar and salt in a blender.  Blend until smooth, scraping down a few times, about 2 minutes.  Add the 1 tablespoon melted butter and blend for another 30 seconds.  Cover the blender and chill for 1 to 4 hours.  Reblend the batter for a few seconds when you remove from the fridge.

Heat an 8 inch nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Brush with melted butter, lift off the stove and add 1/4 cup of the batter to the skillet.  One hand is going to pour in the batter and the other hand is going to tip and swirl the pan to evenly distribute it in the skillet.  Cook for about 45 seconds until you can lift up a corner of the crèpe and see that it's dry and slightly browned.  Flip over the crèpe using a plastic spatula to help.  Continue cooking for about 30 seconds until the crèpe is brown in spots on both sides.  Transfer the crèpe to a plate and cover with plastic wrap.  Repeat  with the rest of the batter, adding more butter as needed.  Keep layering the crèpes in between the sheets of plastic wrap.  You can seal the whole plate up and store in the fridge for a day before putting together the crèpes with the pears.

To Make The Brown Sugar Pears

1/4 Cup unsalted butter(1/2 stick)
1/2 Cup(packed) brown sugar
5 Large firm but ripe pears, peeled, cored and sliced.  I used Bartlett pears.
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add the brown sugar, stir to help it melt and add the pear slices with the lemon juice.  Cook and gently stir until the pears release juices and a syrup forms in the pan, about 3-4 minutes.  Set aside, this can be done a few hours ahead and left to stand at room temperature.  Gently rewarm before filling the crèpes.

To Put It All Together

Preheat the broiler.  Line a baking sheet with foil and brush with melted butter.  Place one crèpe on the baking sheet and place 3 slices of brown sugar pears on a quarter of the crèpe, allowing the pear slices to extend out of the crepe, just to show them off.  Fold the crèpe in half, over the pear slices.  Place 3 more pear slices above the first 3 slices.  Forming a triangle, fold the crèpe in half over the pear slices.  Repeat with the remaining crèpes and pear slices, you should have 12 crèpes.  Brush the top with some of the syrup from the brown sugar pear pan.  Broil the pear filled crèpes until heated, golden and browned in a few spots on the edges.  Be careful not to burn, not a good time to multitask!!!!  Arrange 2 crèpes on each plate, use your own discretion to cover with crème fraiche and serve.


Serves 6