Wake and Bake
20121106-wakeandbake-crepes-with-caramel-sauce.JPG

[Photograph: Carrie Vasios]

Make a decadent breakfast by topping homemade crepes with caramel sauce.

Note: This makes extra caramel sauce. It can be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator for one week. It's excellent over ice cream. The crepe batter has a noticeable trait of salt to emphasize the caramel. If you're sensitive to salt, decrease to 1/4 teaspoon.

The crepe batter is adapted from Julia Child.

About the author: Carrie Vasios is the editor of Serious Eats: Sweets. She likes to peruse her large collection of cookbooks while eating jam from the jar. You can follow her on Twitter @carrievasios

Every recipe we publish is tested, tasted, and Serious Eats-approved by our staff. Never miss a recipe again by following @SeriousRecipes on Twitter!

About This Recipe

Yield: serves 8 (about 2 six-inch crepes per person)
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 30 minutes (includes chilling batter)
Special equipment: food processor or blender, skillet or crepe pan, pastry brush

Ingredients

  • For Crepes:
  • 1/2 cup cold milk
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (about 3 3/4 ounces) all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  •  
  • For Caramel Sauce:
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup (about 9 ounces) packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  •  
  • For Assembly:
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Procedures

  1. Make crepes: Place milk, water, eggs, and salt into the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse five times to combine. Add flour and butter and blend 1 minute. Place batter in refrigerator and chill for two hours.

  2. Make caramel sauce: Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in brown sugar. Bring to a full boil, stirring. Add salt and heavy cream, and bring to boil once again. Take off heat and immediately stir in vanilla extract.

  3. Assemble: Heat a large wide skillet over medium heat. Brush pan with melted butter. Ladle scant 1/4 cup batter into hot skillet and tilt the pan until batter covers the bottom evenly. Cook about 1 minute, or until golden on the bottom. Flip the crepe and cook for 30 seconds more. Remove crepe to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter. Fold crepes into quarters, drizzle with caramel sauce, and serve.