Monday, January 3, 2011

Delicious crepes with fruit and mascarpone for a lazy Bank Holiday


I really, really love it that, just when you least expect it, life can give you a little present. Like today, for no apparent reason, I had the nicest Bank Holiday Monday. I managed to do all the things that make me happy (well, most of them), like snoozing, cooking, reading, writing, catching up with friends, playing with cats, and walking around Hackney. It wasn't exactly extraordinary, but it was kind of perfect. Apart from my fractured rib, that is, which makes it a bit difficult to breathe - I did something bad to it by coughing so much over the past couple of months, and then couch raving the night away on New Year's Eve pissed it off beyond measure. Anyway, in the afternoon, I went over to the lovely Mariana's for a gossip and crepes. We'd usually have cookies with white tea, but as I have given up sugar, we needed to find a suitable replacement  - something tasty, sweet and comforting. We did a damn good job, even if I say so myself, with an amazing feast of crepes and fruit with mascapone, drizzled in honey. The amounts down there will make about six smallish ones, perfect for two


Crepes

1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
Aprox 200ml milk
Aprox 70g plain flour
50g butter
Pinch of sea salt

Fruit of your choice
Mascarpone cheese
Honey


We melted half the butter for the pancake mix, then used half of it for frying, pouring the old, burnt stuff out each time and adding a little bit more fresh stuff. Beat the eggs first, add the milk, keep beating, then add the flour, with a pinch of salt and the melted butter. Make sure you blend the ingredients really well, so there are no lumps. Normal people would probably use a blender for this, however, we used chopsticks, with surprisingly smooth results. Before spreading the mascarpone, we mixed it for a while to improve the texture, then spread it as evenly as we good over the hot crepes, followed by sliced of fruit and then drizzled honey over everything, before rolling up in various different ways, and munching. I can't even begin to explain how good it tasted, an ideal recipe for a catch up with friends or, as Mariana put it "breakfast for a lover". How romantic! I'm taking notes...