Crepes + Mixed Berry Compote

I just realized I don't have a crepe recipe on the blog! I love making crepes - it's fun, easy and makes breakfast feel a little more special. Here is my go-to crepe recipe.

Crepes

1 cup flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 Tbs butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth (I hear you can also use a blender for this, but I'd rather not fuss with washing my blender). Heat a frying pan over medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Pick up the pan in one hand. Use your other hand to pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the middle of the pan, then tilt the pan in a circular motion to get the batter to spread in an even circle (you'll mess up the first one, but then they'll all turn out perfect after that. It's a learning process). Cook until the top is set and looks dry - watch it and you'll see the shine on the surface disappear - about 2 minutes. Turn out onto a plate, then repeat with remaining batter.

I like to fill my crepes with a variety of different things, but almost always include fresh whipped cream, and always with a dusting of powdered sugar on top. A few ideas:

Nutella and banana
Apple cinnamon and whipped cream
Berries and whipped cream
Cottage cheese, fruit and whipped cream
Peaches and whipped cream

These were berry and peach crepes. I used this mixed berry compote:


Mixed Berry Compote

2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice plus 2 teaspoons
3 tablespoons honey
3 cups frozen mixed berries
1 tsp vanilla

Dissolve the cornstarch in the 2 teaspoons orange juice. Set aside. Combine the 1 1/2 cups orange juice and honey in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, let cook for 1 minute or until the honey has completely dissolved. Add the berries and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cornstarch and cook until the mixture thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm over pancakes, french toast, oatmeal, ice cream or crepes.

Broiled Grapefruit

Made this for a Saturday brunch alongside some poached eggs and toast. It was delicious!! The warm grapefruit juices become a sweet-tart syrup, and the top almost caramelizes. (In this picture most of the topping was already scraped off.) Loved it and will definitely be doing this again and again.

Broiled Grapefruit

2 large grapefruits, well chilled
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 small fresh mint sprigs

Preheat a broiler.

Cut each grapefruit in half crosswise. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each half, if necessary, so that it will stand upright.

Using a serrated grapefruit knife or a small, sharp knife, loosen the grapefruit segments in each half by first carefully cutting between the fruit and the peel and then by cutting along either side of each segment to free it from the membrane. Leave all the segments in their shells. Place the halves upright in a baking dish.

In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Using your fingers, sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly over the grapefruit halves. Slip under the broiler about 4 inches from the heat source and broil until the sugar is uniformly bubbly, 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer each grapefruit half to an individual dish and garnish with a mint sprig. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Recipe from Williams Sonoma.

Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade

Sara fell in love with this refreshing summer beverage at a sandwich shop in Chelsea, so much that she looked up the recipe online so we could recreate it at home. I am so glad she did, because it is so easy and so delicious. And it just tastes like summer. The flavors of the watermelon, strawberry and lemon are very well balanced. Serve it chilled for the perfect summer treat. You will love it!

Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade

4 cups cubed seeded watermelon
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, halved
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup water
3-4 ice cubes

Combine everything in blender and blend until smooth. Serve chilled.

Recipe found on Allrecipes, copycat of a drink from Bottino.

Coconut Mango Sticky Rice

Maribeth got me all into mangoes recently, and then she dropped this recipe on my head and now I am officially obsessed. Blast that girl. I am really supposed to be losing weight for a trip to Hawaii in a week, and instead here I am shoving sticky rice in my face. It is ridiculously good. Klane and I were dying over how good it was. Coconutty and sugary and creamy and... oh, excuse me, I am going to get myself another bowl right now. Bye!

Coconut Mango Sticky Rice

1 Cup uncooked Jasmine Rice
1 can Coconut Milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Mango (or bottled slices)

Cover rice with cold water and rinse. Repeat until the water runs clear, about 3 times, and drain. In a medium saucepan bring 1¾ cups water to boil. Add the rice and stir briefly. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cover. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, sugar and salt. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Pour the boiled coconut milk into the cooked rice. Stir well. Cover top of the rice directly with wax paper or aluminum foil. Let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Peel the mango and cut into slices or squares. Spoon the rice, or scoop with an ice cream server onto a serving platter and decorate with mango slices.

Recipe from Maribeth Youngberg.

Peach Crisp

In response to a post I wrote about missing home and my mother's peaches, that wonderful woman sent another whole box of them to me! I woke up Saturday morning and ran down the stairs like it was Christmas, to find my box waiting for me. We made pancakes with peaches, and since then I've been so excited to make peach crisp. Had to buy ice cream first, because come on, you can't eat peach crisp without ice cream. Here is the recipe I found. It was just perfect! Totally satisfied my craving. The crunchy topping is sugary and cinnamony and delicious.

Peach Crisp

6-8 medium peaches, peeled and sliced into thin slices
2-3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest (or a few drops of lemon juice will do)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup white flour
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats, uncooked
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
8 tablespoons slightly softened butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix first 4 ingredients until blended thoroughly. Spray a 2.5 qt baking dish with cooking spray and add peaches. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the fruit is baking in the oven, add flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon and butter to a mixing bowl. Mix ingredients with your fingers until crumbly. Once the fruit has cooked 20 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle the crumble evenly over the top of the peaches. Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes longer. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Recipe found on For the Love of Cooking.

Frozen Lemon Cake

Friend Casey found this dessert and we made it on a Thursday afternoon. Then she made it again and had us over on Sunday to share. Then I made it again on Monday to feed the missionaries. I am loving this dessert right now! It's different than my usual chocolate/caramel/peanut butter routine. It's a light and fresh tasting dessert. Perfect for summer, but would be great anytime. The lemon taste was nicely balanced with the sweet. It's creamy, but light enough to serve up a big slice and not feel too full. Four of us devoured an 8x8 pan, no problem. Maybe you should double it....

Frozen Lemon Cake

1 1/4 cup crushed graham crackers, divided
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 eggs, separated
1 lemon (all juice and all zest) {you can use 3 Tbs bottled lemon juice instead}
½ cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream
4 tablespoons sugar, divided

Combine 1 cup of the crushed graham crackers with the melted butter, stirring until a crumbly loose mixture forms. Line the bottom of an 8x8-inch pan with the mixture.

In a bowl set over hot water (not boiling) mix egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens. It will take about 10 minutes for the mixture to thicken. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool.

Beat egg whites until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar and continue to beat until glossy, stiff peaks form. Next, beat whipped cream until fluffy, and gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar. Then, gently fold all three mixtures together.

Spread the mixture in the pan over the prepared crust. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of crushed crackers. Place in freezer for at least 3 hours. When you're ready to serve, remove from the freezer, and cut into squares and plate them. Then allow to melt ever so slightly - about 4-5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Recipe found on Vintage Victuals.

Oatmeal Blueberry Peach Pancakes

I've had this recipe on file for a while. A rainy Saturday morning seemed like the perfect time to try them out. What could be better than ultra-filling oatmeal pancakes in bed on a rainy day? These were just exactly what I hoped they'd be: hearty, puffed, very filling, and perfectly spiced. The blueberries were perfect paired with peaches and cream, and the pancakes had a nice spice flavor with the nutmeg and cinnamon. Yum!

Oatmeal Blueberry Peach Pancakes

1 cup Oats
1 cup Whole-Wheat flour {I actually used white and they were fine}
1 cup All Purpose flour
2 Tbsp. Baking powder
½ Tsp. Nutmeg
½ Tsp. Cinnamon
½ Tsp. Salt
1 ½ cups Milk
¼ cup Vegetable oil
2 Eggs (separated)
1 Tsp. Vanilla
Tbsp. Honey
Blueberries

1-2 peaches
confectioner's sugar
heavy cream

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk together the oats, flours, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Using the same whisk in a second bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, egg yolks, vanilla, and honey. In a third bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks with a hand mixer. Pour the wet into the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Mix in blueberries. Gently fold in the egg whites until incorporated and let the batter rest a few minutes. {This allows time for the baking powder to react and creates air bubbles in the batter, making your pancakes nice and puffed.}

While it's resting, peel and dice the peaches, stir in confectioner's sugar and heavy cream, and warm in microwave if desired. {We also make our maple syrup. Mix ½ cup each of sugar, brown sugar, and water, with a bit of maple extract, in a glass measuring cup. Heat in the microwave till it bubbles. Stir, make sure sugar is dissolved, and you've got maple syrup.}

Pour batter into skillet using about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, the batter will be thick. Once bubbles form on the outside of the pancake and do not fill in again - it is time to flip them over. Finish cooking, then serve with butter, peaches and cream, and maple syrup.

Serves 6, about 12 pancakes. Or 6 giant pancakes, the way we like to do it. We halved this recipe.

Recipe found on One Food Guy.