Warm Apple Crepes

Suzanne and I both worked in downtown Tacoma at the same time a long, long time ago.  Occasionally, we would manage to meet up for lunch.  We loved to go to a crepe restaurant in the Old City Hall building that made divine crepes stuffed with crab, or chicken and spinach with a rich cream sauce and lots of cheese.  They had an apple crepe filled with warm vanilla pudding and apple filling that we would sometimes split for dessert.  I saw a recipe for crepes the other day and it jogged my memory of how much I loved this apple crepe.  That crepe restaurant is no longer there, in fact, the Old City Hall building has been converted into professional offices.  So, here’s my take on the apple crepe at Old City Hall (it tastes just like I remembered!)….It seems like there are a lot of steps to this recipe, but each step is super simple.

Vanilla Pudding
2 C. milk
1 tsp. real vanilla extract (or if you’re super cool -1 vanilla bean, split)
2 eggs
1/2 C. plus 2 T. Sugar
3 T. flour
1/4 C. (1/2 stick) butter, softened

Combine the milk and vanilla in a saucepan and heat on medium-high heat till it almost comes to a boil.  In a bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and flour till well combined.  You will need to ‘temper’ the eggs, which means you will need to warm them up gradually by adding 1/3 C. of the scalded milk to the egg mixture while whisking, so that the eggs don’t scramble.  Add the warmed egg mixture to the pan of milk and whisk over medium-high heat till the pudding thickens and begins to bubble. (Remove the vanilla bean, if using).  Keep whisking for 4-5 minutes until the pudding becomes very thick.  Remove from the heat and stir in the softened butter until it melts.  Set aside to cool down.

Apple Filling
2 apples (I used Gala), peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
1-1/2 C. apple juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1-1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 C. apple juice

Cook the apples and the 1-1/2 C. apple juice  in a saucepan on medium heat until the apples are tender, about 25 minutes.  Stir in the cinnamon and sugar.  Increase the heat to medium-high heat.  Thoroughly mix the cornstarch with the 1/2 C. apple juice and stir into apple mixture.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally.  Set aside to cool down.

Crepes
1/2 C. flour
1 C. milk
4 eggs
3 T. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. sugar

Combine the flour, salt and milk in a bowl.  Add the eggs and mix well. Stir in the melted butter and mix well.  Pour 1/4 C. batter into a shallow, non-stick frying pan lightly greased with butter (or crepe pan, again if you’re super cool) on medium heat.  Swirl the batter around until the bottom of the pan is coated.  Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the edges are just brown..no need to flip the crepe. Slide the crepe onto a plate.

Assembly
Fill the crepes with 1/4 C. warm vanilla pudding topped with 1/4 C. warm apple filling.  Roll or fold up the crepe.  Top with 1 T. apple filling and a dollop of vanilla ice cream..

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