Crêpes with Strawberry Coulis
Crêpes–golden, buttery and fluffy–make an easy spring dessert when paired with sweet, fresh strawberries and just a light dusting of powdered sugar. A blender is a quicker way to mix the batter and a brief rest in the refrigerator allows the flour to absorb the liquid ingredients slowly, resulting in a tender crêpe. A non-stick skillet is essential to ensure easy flipping.
Crêpes are versatile; they can be spread with jam, lemon curd or even Nutella. They can be filled with ice cream and served with a drizzle of homemade chocolate sauce. You can roll them or just fold them and serve with a dollop of crème fraîche on the side. The possibilities are endless. This full-proof recipe is Julia Child’s Master Crêpe Recipe.
Essential Ingredients
- Flour: good quality all purpose, unbleached flour
- Milk: whole fat milk or 2% could also be used
- Water: this is added to the milk so the crêpes are less dense
- Eggs: large eggs at room temperature
- Salt: just a pinch of salt enhances the flavor
- Butter: melted butter for the batter and some more for brushing on the skillet
- Strawberries: fresh and ripe, sweet, spring strawberries
- Sugar: to macerate the strawberries
- Lemon juice: to brighten up the strawberry coulis
Crêpes with Strawberry Coulis
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A wonderful dessert with buttery crêpes and sweet strawberries
Author: Marilena Leavitt
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Serves: 20
Ingredients
- For the crêpes
- 1 cup flour
- ⅔ cup cold milk
- ⅔ cup cold water
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 3 TBSP. melted butter, plus more for brushing on the skillet
- For the strawberry coulis
- 3 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
- 3 TBSP. sugar
- 1 tsp. fresh lemon
Instructions
- To make the crêpes:
- Place all ingredients in a blender, starting with the liquids first. Mix well until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
- Heat a non-stick, 6” skillet over medium heat. Brush with some melted butter.
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into the center of the pan and then tilt the pan in all directions to cover the bottom evenly. Pour out any excess. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the crêpe is lightly brown (this is the “public side” of the crêpe). Flip it over with a small spatula or using your fingers and cook briefly on the other side (this is the “nonpublic side of the crêpe”).
- Cool the crêpes on a rack, loosely covered, while you continue making the rest. You should have about 20 small, 5" dessert crêpes.
- To make the strawberry coulis::
- Place two cups of the sliced strawberries and the sugar in a bowl and let them macerate for 20 minutes.
- Empty the whole bowl into a food processor.
- Strain the sauce through a fine sieve. Discard the seeds. Add a few drops of fresh lemon and refrigerate.
- To serve, fold the reserved sliced strawberries with the strawberry coulis.
Notes
If you are not going to use them right away, cool the crêpes thoroughly, stack them without fear of sticking and put them in a plastic bag. Refrigerate for up to two days, or freeze them for several weeks.
Cooking well doesn’t mean cooking fancy. – Julia Child
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