Thursday, June 20, 2013

Sourdough Surprises June: Crepes Suzette with Cinnamon Ice Cream

When I saw that the challenge for this month's Sourdough Surprises was crepes, I almost opted out. I can barely make pancakes; how was I going to make crepes? I have always wanted to try but didn't crepes involve using a fancy wooden tool to spread the batter in the pan? It was definitely beyond my skill level.

But then I thought about it, what was the point of making things month after month that didn't challenge me in some way? Doing this is supposed to be a way to push me outside my current sourdough comfort zone (the same kind of bread almost every single week!). So I looked at a few recipes and then did what I usually do for most new recipes - I asked Alton Brown. I absolutely love Good Eats! I love the tips and the explanations and they have really helped me to understand my ingredients better over the years.

Alton Brown made it look simple enough. He blended his ingredients, let them rest, didn't use a special pan or a special spreading stick. He did swirl the batter in the pan but I knew that I wasn't at that level yet. I decided to adapt his recipe and use a half batch (why waste ingredients?) for my sourdough crepes.

Next, what would I fill them with? Something sweet? Something savoury? As I was scrolling through crepe pictures, I saw a picture of Crepes Suzette and remembered that I also wanted to make whipped milk ice cream. This would be perfect.




And it was! I really enjoyed this. I wished that I had added more sugar to my crepes but I figured that the sauce plus ice cream would have been enough sugar for me. Just a little more sugar definitely would not have hurt. 

As I mentioned, I adapted Alton Brown's crepes and swapped out some of the flour and water for a quarter cup of my 166% starter. I let it rest in the fridge for an hour then heated my pan and hoped for the best. 

For the sauce, I kinda winged it. I saw that some recipes did a mixture of butter, sugar and liqueur while others used orange juice, sugar and liqueur. I just melted an arbitrary amount of butter and sugar in pan, added some orange juice and after it reduced, I let it cool for a bit then poured it over my crepes. I forgot to add liqueur! But not to worry, I have some left, I can still add it.



The whipped milk ice cream was also pretty easy. I whipped one chilled can of evaporated milk with a cup of powdered sugar and cinnamon then chilled it for an hour then whipped some more and chilled three more times then let it freeze for several hours before using. It's soft and melts quickly but tastes amazing!

I can't wait to see what others did this month. Check them out!


20 comments:

  1. Yum! These look delish and cinnamon ice cream is one of my all time favorites!

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    1. It was my first time trying cinnamon ice cream. It's moving up on my list!

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  2. Yum~ Everything is better with cinnamon ice cream, my favorite:) Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines

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    1. Another person's favourite! And to think it was my first time trying cinnamon ice cream.

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  3. Delish, and the cinnamon ice cream sounds tempting all by itself.

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  4. Isn't Alton Brown the greatest? Your crêpes look great and that ice cream sounds outstanding!

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    1. He is! I have even read the show transcripts because the recipes on Food Network don't give you all the necessary information.
      Thanks!

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  5. I love the addition of the cinnamon ice cream! They look amazing :)

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  6. Never had cinnamon ice cream but since I love cinnamon, I need to try it! Your crepes look very nice for a first attempt! Not like mine! ;)

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    1. I just got lucky. I saw that you spread Nutella on yours! I will take that!

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  7. Great job! Your first experience making crepes looks like it was a huge success, especially for making your own recipe! And no, you don't need fancy tools! The pan-twirl is really easier than you think, you just swirl the pan around enough to get the batter spread out, that's it. Totally doable! :) I love the flavors you chose here, I bet they were fantastic!! :)

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    1. Very delicious! I think I will try again soon so that I can get the pan-twirl down. I tried at first but worried that I really wouldn't have been able to do it.

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  8. I do love Suzette sauce so these look delectable! Nice job :-)

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  9. Okay, for starters, I have never heard of that whipped milk ice cream, and now I am dying to try it. That aside, your crepes look perfect - I'd never know you had any reservations. Hooray for Alton Brown for helping you through :)

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    1. You should definitely try it! Here's a link to posts with step by step photos: http://www.crunchycreamysweet.com/tag/whipped-milk-ice-cream/

      I thought I messed it up at first since it didn't get as thick during my first whipping and then another time it seemed to deflate but I pressed on and it worked out just fine.

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  10. I love Alton brown! He makes the most complicated recipes look doable!
    I love your crepes with the sauce and icecream
    you did a wonderful job with them!

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  11. I'm glad you had success with your crepes! I find them much easier to make than regular pancakes. That cinnamon whipped milk sounds intriguing. I'm going to have to give that try.

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    1. I don't think I will ever make pancakes again. I definitely found this to be easier.

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