CARAMELIZED CREPES STUFFED WITH DULCE DE LECHE

Caramelized Crepes Stuffed with Dulce de Leche image

If you think of crepes as thin pancakes, you will realize how easy they are to make. This recipe flavors the crepe batter with cinnamon and vanilla, resulting in a speckled crepe that goes great with any sweet filling. While I stuff these solely with dulce de leche, feel free to add chopped fresh fruit, such as strawberries, bananas, or mango, to the filling or to add fruit on top.

Yield serves 6

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup milk
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Butter, for the pan
1 1/2 cups dulce de leche or caramel sauce
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Steps:

Combine the flour, water, milk, eggs, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon in a blender and puree until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides of the jar a few times. Add the melted butter and mix well.
Leave the batter in the blender jar and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for up to 1 hour.
Place a nonstick skillet over medium heat and brush some melted butter on it. When the pan is hot, use a ladle to pour in about 3 tablespoons of the batter. To help create a thin crepe, tilt your pan in all directions so the batter covers most of the surface of the pan.
Allow the crepe to cook until the edges start turning golden brown, about 2 minutes. Use a wide spatula to turn the crepe over. (I agree with the adage that says your first crepe never comes out right and you get a free do-over. The first one just coats the pan with fat so the rest cook evenly and slide off easily.)
Place the crepe on a dish and cover it with plastic to keep moist. Repeat until you run out of batter. You should be able to make about 12 crepes.
Rub some butter on the bottom of a 1-quart baking dish (the shape doesn't matter) and set aside.
Working with one crepe at a time, place 2 tablespoons of dulce de leche in the center and fold the crepe in half. Fold it a second time to create a triangular shape. Place the crepe in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining crepes, placing the folded crepes in the baking dish so they slightly overlap.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly over the crepes. Brown (with a blowtorch or under the broiler) until the sugar caramelizes and turns golden brown, about 5 minutes under the broiler.
Garnish by sprinkling confectioners' sugar over the crepes. Serve warm.
TECHNIQUES
Resting the Crepe Batter
The secret to a successful crepe batter is to allow it to rest for at least an hour after the batter has been mixed. This allows the starch in the flour to absorb the liquid in the batter, which improves the texture of the crepe.
Caramelizing the Crepes
While you can skip this step, it really adds to the texture of the dessert. The easiest and most efficient way to do this is with a small blowtorch that can be found at most kitchenware stores. If you do not have one, place the baking dish as close to your broiler as you can get it and allow your broiler to caramelize the sugar.
ADVANCE PREPARATION
You can make the crepes a few hours in advance and keep them wrapped in plastic at room temperature. They will hold at room temperature stuffed with the dulce de leche filling for another couple of hours. It is best to eat the crepes the day they are made.