Crepes with Homemade Caramel and Chocolate Sauce

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!  Graham and I have a tradition of cooking for each other on Valentines.  It started when Graham invited me over to his house shortly after we started dating and made a stir-fry for me for Valentine’s Day dinner.  Suffice it to say I was impressed enough by his efforts (and cooking) to continue dating him and make him a Valentine’s dinner the next year.  We have continued switching off every year since then, and while Graham usually sticks to his tried and true stir-fry, I use it as an excuse to get creative and try something new.

This year it was my turn to cook, and for a variety of reasons I couldn’t make dinner happen on the actual night.  However, I did make a big spread for the following night, which included crepes drizzled with homemade caramel and chocolate sauces.  If you are looking for a sweet treat for your sweetheart, give this recipe a try…!

Later I’ll share with you the main course that I cooked, which was a huge effort that had me worried a little, but in end it turned out pretty well.  Stay tuned…

Crepes with Homemade Caramel and Chocolate Sauce

I’ve had mixed luck making caramel sauce in the past, so I decided to use a different recipe this time that is made in the microwave instead of on the stove top.  I was a little scared of burning the caramel in the microwave, so I may not have cooked it for as long as the recipe calls for, but it came out tasting pretty delicious.  For the chocolate sauce, I cut this recipe in half.

• Caramel sauce
• Chocolate sauce
• Crepes (see recipe below)
• Berries
• Vanilla ice cream

Drizzle a tablespoon or so of caramel sauce and chocolate sauce into the center of a warm crepe.  Fold in half and then in half again.  Drizzle more caramel and chocolate sauce over the folded crepe and top with a scope of vanilla ice cream and garnish with berries.

Crepes

Adapted from Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets

I first made these crepes for a savory dish, and they worked so well that I decided to experiment and use them for these sweet crepes.  I did not add any sugar to the crepe mix because I knew I would be adding lots of sweet sauce.  You could probably add a teaspoon or two of sugar to the batter for sweet crepes, but I don’t think it needs it. 

• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup of water
• ¾ cup of milk (I used almond milk)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

In a blender on high speed, combine the eggs, oil, water, milk, and salt (I put the ingredients into a bowl used an immersion blender).  Add about half of the flour and blend briefly and then add the rest of the flour and blend until just combined.  Set the batter aside for a few minutes to rest (I put mine in the fridge for 20-30 minutes). 

Heat a non-stick skillet (about 7.5 inches at the base) and spread a little vegetable oil in the bottom of the pan.  When the oil is hot add about 1/3 cup of batter to the pan and swirl it so that it covers the bottom of the pan.  Cook about 1 minute or until golden on the bottom and then carefully flip the crepe with a spatula.  Cook for another minute or so on the other side.   Repeat until all of the batter is gone.  Crepes can be kept warm in the oven or refrigerated and reheated later.

Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:

Recipe Report Card	Notes About Recipe Ratings
Tasty Rating Four Chefs (Delicious!)	This rich and decadent dessert was perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Easy Rating Three Easy Chairs (Average Difficulty)	Crepes are a lot easier to make than I imagined.  The key to these crepes is making them in a truly non-stick pan.
Healthy Rating One Apples (This Might Take A Year Off Your Life)	The crepes are not too bad, but the sauces pack a fatty and sugary punch.
Green Rating Three Leaves (Average Environmental Friendliness)	Some organic ingredients and the eggs were local and free range.  I failed on the berries though—I saw North Carolina on them, so I thought they were local, but as it turns out they were grown in Chile and only distributed in North Carolina.  I should have known that there aren’t any berries being grown around here in February.