Newsletter # 34 – Crepe san Rival

Christmas pudding was featured in Newsletter # 30 – a traditional dessert for the festive season. Today we’ll have a look at a dessert that is not traditional but may fit the bill if you are looking for something a little different. It’s called Crepe san Rival.

This dessert has four components – the crepe, crème patissiere, summer berries and meringue.

The crepe recipe was featured in newsletter # 23, but I have included the recipe again. You may have already attempted the recipe and found that the cooked crepes freeze well, so you could use them for this recipe.

The Crème patissiere is a variation on the base custard used in the vanilla ice cream recipe from Newsletter # 32.

The strawberries can be marinated in the liqueur and 10g of the sugar a few hours before final preparation.

The meringue is a basic meringue mix, which you will have to do at the last minute, while the rest of the dessert can be pre-prepared.

Crepe san Rival

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Servings: 4 serves

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

Crepes:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup water
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup plain flour
• 20 g melted butter cooled
• vegetable oil for cooking

Crème patissiere:

• 500 ml full cream milk
• 2 Tbs cornflour
• 4 egg yolks from large eggs. (retain egg whites)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 75 g caster sugar

Meringue – 4-6 portions:

• 4 egg whites at room temperature
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste

Assembly for Crepe san Rival (4 portions):

• 350 - 400 g strawberries firm and ripe, hulled, even size pieces
• 50 ml Grand Marnier or Cointreau
• 30 g caster sugar
• 10 g unsalted butter
• 4 crepes
• 300 ml Crème patissiere
• meringue
• fresh raspberries
• icing sugar

Equipment

• I used oval shaped, oven able ramekins for this dessert.

Method

 

Method: crepes

1. Assemble your ingredients
2. Combine the flour and salt
3. In a separate bowl combine by whisking the eggs, milk and water
4. Whisk the flour mix in to the egg mix thoroughly to make a smooth batter
5. Finally mix in the melted butter
6. Ready

Cooking the Crepes:

1. A suitable sized crepe is around 15 cm diameter and should plate up nicely if you were rolling or folding the crepe. A flat non-stick pan with a minimum base diameter of 18cm should allow you to attain reasonable shape. A measured amount of batter is also important – around 50ml to 60ml. A one quarter cup measure would be suitable. Initially, after heating a little oil in your pan, tip off the excess oil. I use kitchen paper soaked in oil and rubbed over the hot pan for subsequent crepes. The pan should be hot enough to set the batter but also allow the batter to run as you tilt the pan.
2. Heat the oil in the pan
3. Tip off excess
4. Holding the pan by the handle pour in the batter a little off- centre
5. Tilt the pan around the full 360 degrees to attain a circular shape
6. Return to heat
7. Cook for 1 -2 minutes. Light golden colour is good
8. Turn with spatula and cook for a little less than a minute
9. The side now facing you is the presentation side
10. Turn the crepe out onto a plate
11. Ready

Method: cream patissiere

1. Assemble ingredients
   
2. In a small saucepan heat the milk until it is a ‘drinkable heat’. Do not boil.
   
3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the egg yolks and cornflour
   
4. Whisk together
   
5. Add the hot milk to egg yolk mix and combine well. The mix should be hot enough to just cook any egg white
   
6. Into the milk saucepan or a clean one strain the milk mixture through a fine sieve and return to the heat. Discard any solids from the sieve
7. Add the sugar and vanilla to the milk mixture while stirring continuously. At this point I prefer using a silicon spatula
   
8. The mix will gradually thicken. Continue stirring
   
9. When the mix appears to just start boiling take the mix off the heat
10. Continue stirring the mix off the heat for one minute
11. Strain again if you wish or pour the mix into a clean bowl
12. Cover with plastic film and store in the refrigerator
    

Method: meringue

1. Assemble your ingredients
2. Firstly make sure your stand mixer and whisk attachment are both very clean and dry
3. On a low speed whisk the egg white for 1 minute before adding salt and increasing the speed of the mixer to medium speed for 1 more minute until ‘soft peaks’ start to form
4. Continue mixing and start adding the sugar, slowly, one tablespoon of sugar at a time, to ensure that the sugar dissolves
5. Increase the speed of the mixer to medium high and continue adding sugar
6. The meringue should adopt a glossy appearance with a smooth texture. The ‘soft peaks’ are now firmer
7. Check the texture by rubbing a little of the mix between your fingers – it should not be gritty

Method: assembly

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180c
2. Prepare your ramekins by lining them with a thin coating of butter and a dusting of caster sugar
   
3. Drain the strawberries (retaining the liquid)
   
4. Combine the marinated strawberries with the chilled Crème patissiere
   
5. Divide this mix between the four crepes
   
6. Roll the crepes and place in the ramekins
   
7. Place the ramekins in the oven for 5 minutes to heat
   
8. Meanwhile prepare the meringue, which takes around 5 minutes
9. When the crepes are warm remove the ramekins from the oven
10. Pour the reserved liquid over the crepes
    
11. Apply the meringue to the crepes with a pallet knife to cover the crepe
    
12. Finish with more meringue in a random way or by ‘piping’ it on
    
13. Return the crepes to the oven for 5 minutes until the meringue has browned
14. Serve on an under plate decorated with raspberries and dusted with icing sugar