Today, let's talk crepes! I've made regular ones but this time, we're having chocolate crepes. In general, I think the idea of making crepes sounds difficult because we envision special crepe pans and wooden spreaders, and think about techniques we need in order to make these wafer-thin pancakes. In reality, crepes are not very hard to make, without special tools, when we're talking about homemade ones that don't need to be perfect.
I think the notion of making chocolate crepes for Valentine's Day has gone through my head at least a couple of times in the past but it's happening now, in the very throws of summer, because I always tend to think of crepes with ice cream. I spend a good chunk of the summer daydreaming about ice cream.
For this chocolate version, the chocolate comes from some 70% dark chocolate. For a deeper color to drive the chocolate theme home, I added a tablespoon of Dutch-process cocoa. And when it comes to ensuring easy crepe-making, I think the key is to strain the batter and to let it rest a good half hour to an hour before cooking. Do that and the crepes should be easy to flip, as these were.
I'll be frank...I thought these crepes were a bit bland on their own but I suppose that's alright since crepes are meant to go along with fillings, whether it be chocolate or fruit or any sort of delicious combination you can come up with. Once the crepes come together with your fillings or accompaniments, something magical appears on the plate.
