Apple Cinnamon Crepes

Thin slices of stewed apples with a little dusting of cinnamon and brown sugar, a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of honey, all rolled up in a light crepe makes for one delectable bite. Good morning, Saturday! We are now ready to roll.

Saturday breakfasts at our place are laid back and relaxed, with something a little fancy -- like crepes! Of all the Saturday breakfasts I make, crepes are the biggest hit, and a family favourite. My kids finish off crepes at the rate of one every second. It's a good thing that they are fairly easy to whip up and don't require too many fancy ingredients, and yet could floor your guests and family -- with just one bite.

I had my first crepe at IHOP (International House of Pancakes -- my favourite chain of restaurants to eat at in the US. Ironically, I love their crepes more than their pancakes). When we lived in the US we knew places where we'd get fancy crepes, but once we relocated to India, I had no idea which restaurants would have them on their menu. It was then my quest began to find a crepe recipe which would be quick and simple yet delicious.

The recipe that I'd like to share is actually quite simple. It's just flour, eggs, milk, oil, salt, sugar and cinnamon all mixed into a smooth batter. The fancy part is the filling. In this recipe I've chosen the apple cinnamon filling but we've had banana and chocolate, mixed fruits with mixed fruit jam, fresh mangoes with mango jam and even a few savoury crepes. So the filling is totally up to you. Get creative, get funky, and try something new!

Apple Cinnamon Crepes

Ingredients

For the crepe

1 cup flour (maida)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoons oil/melted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
A pinch of salt

For the filling
2 medium tart apples peeled cored and thinly sliced or grated
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 -  2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter

Method

Peel, core and slice the apples. I use a grater to get fine slices. Once that is done, in a frying pan or Kadai melt the butter and put in the apples. On a medium flame, sauté the apples, dusting them with a little cinnamon powder and brown sugar. The apples cook quickly if they are finely sliced. So in about 3 - 4 minutes your kitchen should start smelling heavenly. Turn off the stove and set this aside.

In a medium sized bowl, mix all the ingredients for the crepe into a smooth batter. I usually mix the dry ingredients separately, and the wet ingredients separately, and then mix the two together. If you are using the electric mixer, it really doesn't matter because in thirty seconds you'll have a smooth batter.

Heat a nonstick frying pan or dosa tava and keep it at medium flame. Make the crepe by pouring the batter on the pan and use circular motions to spread the batter. The batter will be very watery and that is good because that's how we want it to be. Reduce the flame if the batter doesn't spread well. Once you've spread it well then the flame can go back up a little bit. After a minute flip it and let it cook for another minute on the other side. The crepe is done when it looks golden brown.

Assemble the crepe by adding the filling in the middle, a little bit of whipped cream on top of the filling and a drizzle of honey for extra sweetness. The honey is optional, the crepe is pretty sweet with the brown sugar in the apples. Roll-up the crepe and serve warm as it is or with a scoop of Butterscotch Ice Cream for dessert. Enjoy!