WARM CRêPES WITH LEMON ZEST AND HAZELNUT BROWN BUTTER

Warm Crêpes with Lemon Zest and Hazelnut Brown Butter image

Many people associate particular years of their childhood with the television shows they watched or the sports they played. In my family, intervals of time were marked by food. The break between third and fourth grade was the summer of crêpes. My parents had just returned from a trip to Brittany, and my mother was determined to re-create the handiwork of their famous crêperies. I got on the crêpe bandwagon, too, and borrowed her Teflon-coated electric skillet on the weekends. While my sister entertained all the neighborhood kids in the pool, I set up my backyard crêpe stand and spent the afternoon flipping and filling to the sounds of "Marco . . . Polo . . . Marco. . . ." These lemon-hazelnut crêpes are a little more refined than those childhood concoctions (banana-chocolate was my specialty in those days!), but they still remind me of those joyful afternoons in my makeshift crêperie.

Number Of Ingredients 24

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Ingredients

2 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
About 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons Frangelico liqueur
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Hazelnut cream (recipe follows)
Hazelnut brown butter (recipe follows)
4 ounces blanched hazelnuts
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
Healthy pinch of kosher salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 extra-large egg
1 extra-large egg yolk
1 tablespoon Frangelico liqueur
2 ounces blanched hazelnuts
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons Frangelico liqueur
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Steps:

Whisk the eggs, milk, cream, 2 tablespoons melted butter, lemon zest, and Frangelico together in a medium bowl.
Sift the flour and sugar into a large bowl, and stir in the salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Slowly pour the liquid into the well, whisking all the time at the center. Once the batter starts to incorporate, slowly bring in more dry ingredients, working from the center out.
Cover the bowl, and let the batter rest in the refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Heat two black iron crêpe pans or 6-inch nonstick pans over medium heat. Swirl about 1/2 teaspoon butter in each pan, and when it foams, swirl in 2 tablespoons crêpe batter, moving the pan to coat the bottom with a thin layer of batter. Cook the crêpe 30 seconds or so, until the edges are golden brown. Flip the crêpe over and cook another 30 seconds on the second side. The crêpes should be thin and lacy.
Remove the crêpes from the pans onto a warm plate. Stack the crêpes as you go, keeping them covered with a towel. Repeat until you have twelve crêpes.
Lightly butter a baking sheet. Place the crêpes on a work surface with the pretty, brown lacy sides down. Spoon 1 tablespoon hazelnut cream onto the lower-right quadrant of each crêpe. Fold the crêpes loosely in half over the hazelnut cream, and then fold them again, loosely into quarters (with the unfilled quarter on top). Top each crêpe with a teaspoon of hazelnut cream, and place them all on the buttered baking sheet.
Bake the crêpes in the oven 6 to 8 minutes, until they start to crisp around the edges.
Arrange the crêpes on a large warm platter, and spoon the hazelnut-brown butter sauce over them.
Place the hazelnuts, sugar, and salt in a food processor, and pulse until finely ground. Add the flour, butter, egg, egg yolk, and Frangelico. Pulse until completely combined.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet, and toast 8 to 10 minutes, until they're golden brown and smell nutty. When the nuts have cooled, chop them coarsely.
Dissolve the sugar in the Frangelico in a small bowl.
Cook the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat about 5 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the butter browns and smells nutty. Once the butter has browned, remove the pan from the heat and wait a minute or two. Add the nuts, salt, and the Frangelico mixture, making sure to scrape all the Frangelico and sugar into the pan. (Be careful, the butter might foam up a little, and it's very hot.)
Two things about your crêpe pan are extremely important: temperature and "seasoning." The pan needs to be hot enough that the batter starts cooking immediately but not so hot that the crêpes burn. A thin film of butter will season the pan so the crêpes cook evenly and don't stick. Often one or two practice crêpes are needed; the fat in the batter will create the seasoning while letting you see if the pan's temperature needs adjustment.
You can make the crêpe batter and the hazelnut cream a day ahead. (You must make the batter at least 2 hours ahead.) Fill the crêpes an hour or so ahead, and then pop them in the oven just before serving.