Mexican-inspired vanilla crepes suit breakfast or dessert
-
Loading... - Vesa Jarvela
- 20 May 2022
- 294 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
After two years of no vacation travel, my husband and I decided on a last-minute trip to an adult-only, all-inclusive resort in Playacar, Mexico. Just the two of us and a whole week of blue skies, warm sunshine, and soft white sand.
Being a food blogger and married to a spouse who’s a picky eater, my job was to find a resort that had decent food. After all, food can make or break a vacation.
All-inclusive vacations unfortunately tend to have a reputation of serving bland, soggy, lukewarm buffet style food. After much research, I found a resort that I felt would fit the bill. We chose the Royal Hideaway Playacar.
Most of the reviews I came across, praised the food. But, as you know, food is very subjective. After all, there’ve been many times where my husband and I have disagreed on how something tastes. Since we were craving some warmth, we settled on this resort. The biggest selling point about this place was the ability to dine à la carte for all three meals.
While we expected the food to be above average, we certainly weren’t expecting to enjoy the food as much as we did. Not only were the choices in the six restaurants plentiful, but the ingredients were also fresh, the food was served hot and plated beautifully, and the service was excellent.
Except for a buffet breakfast one morning, all of our meals were eaten in Spices, the onsite Mexican restaurant. My husband loves his Huevos Rancheros, so his breakfasts always consisted of eggs, and tortilla served with a tomatillo or tomato sauce.
On our first morning I spied on the menu freshly made crepes stuffed with fresh fruit, served with a warm vanilla sauce. That became my go-to breakfast. On days where I craved something savoury, my husband and I would share those crepes for a breakfast dessert instead.
Unknown to me, crepes served with vanilla sauce is an authentic sweet Mexican breakfast dish. After the French withdrew from Mexico in 1867, they left behind a part of their cuisine. That’s how crepas came to be. One of the most traditional Mexican desserts is crepas con cajeta — crepes topped with a thick, rich, gooey caramel sauce.
Crepas con cajeta unfortunately, wasn’t available for breakfast, but in its place was a dish that was equally delicious and perfect for that time of day. Crepas en Salsa de Vainilla, were fork tender, with a hint of cinnamon and with just the right amount of chewiness. The vanilla sauce was rich, creamy, yet not overly sweet. It was the perfect dessert breakfast. So of course, the first weekend we got back from vacation, I had to replicate this recipe.
For those who’ve never tried making crepes at home, here are a few tips:
• Whisk batter well to get rid of lumps. Alternatively, use a blender to blend the ingredients.
• Refrigerate batter for at least an hour or overnight to allow the gluten to relax creating a light and airy crepe.
• Use a crepe pan or electric crepe maker to cook the crepes. A medium non-stick frying pan will also work.
• Cook crepes in a hot pan over medium heat.
• Add only enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan. Too much batter and the crepes will be too chewy.
• Crepes are done once the top looks dry, and the edges begin to release from the pan. Flip and cook the other side for 30 seconds. If using an electric crepe maker, there is no need to flip the crepe.
• Stack and cover crepes with a tea towel until ready to use. Crepes may also be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen until needed. To refrigerate, wrapped stacked crepes in cling wrap, place in an airtight container and use within two days. To freeze, layer crepes between sheets of parchment paper, then wrap tightly in cling wrap and place in an airtight container for up to three months. Thaw crepes before separating them. Read More...
