Ever since I was little, making pancakes has always been a pastime of mine. My friends always insisted on sleeping over at my house because no one was allowed to leave the next morning on an empty stomach. This meant waking up to pancakes of all kinds—chocolate, banana, blueberry, raspberry, sprinkles and so forth. On rare occasions, I would make the switch to Belgium waffles, but I could always rely on my pancakes to impress even the pickiest guests.
However, one morning I added too much water to the pancake mix and everything changed: This was when I accidentally discovered the crepe. As I poured the mix into the pan, I quickly realized that something was off— my top notch pancakes did not contain their usual fluffy factor, and, instead, I found myself cooking up a rather flat pancake which resembled a crepe, something I had never tasted before. To this day, I consider this the best mistake I’ve made in the kitchen.
Rather than questioning my “skinny pancakes,” my friends lit up at the idea of crepes and I decided to go along with it. In truth, my first few crepe attempts were rather elementary. I wanted to master the classic crepe (accompanied with maple syrup), before I dove into anything fancy. Eventually I graduated from the classic crepe and discovered something bigger and better—agave ricotta cheese crepes topped with roasted pears and honey.
Because of their French origin, many people mistake crepes for being “too fancy” to whip up themselves. However, this is not the case. What makes this dish so appealing is not only its irresistible flavor, but also its simple production. As long as you have the appropriate sized frying pan and an understanding of the perfect “flip,” mastery of the crepe will follow.
The first thing to take note of is crepe batter. The key to conducting the ultimate batter is formulating the perfect texture—neither too thick nor too thin. Once you reach an ideal consistency, the crepes will be easier to flip and you won’t have to worry about having them fall apart. The batter includes milk, flour, one egg, vegetable oil, baking powder and sugar. After mixing these ingredients into a bowl, be sure to whisk all the components together and avoid any lumps in the batter whatsoever.
Next, heat your nonstick frying pan (spray it with oil spray just in case) and distribute your batter onto the pan as soon as the stove top has heated up. In order to produce a proportionate crepe, shift the pan from side to side and cover the surface area of the pan. After two to three minutes, flip the crepe onto the other side where it will only need one to two minutes to finish cooking. The most strategic way to go about flipping your crepe is by finding the perfect angle on one side until you reach the center and can lift it off the pan.
After cooking your crepes, it is time to whip up its filling. This includes ricotta cheese, agave nectar, two sliced pears, butter and honey. Begin by heating up the cheese and agave nectar together in a heated skillet pan. As soon as the two components dissolve into a liquid and smooth texture, remove them from the stove top to cool. As the ricotta and agave combo cools, the liquid will eventually transform into a solid (don’t worry, this is supposed to happen).
In another pan, heat up your butter and add in the sliced pears while the butter simultaneously melts. The pears will need around five minutes to cook on each side.
Depending on how hot your stove top gets, you can cover the pan with a lid, but be sure not to burn the pear slices! After cooking the pears on both sides and reaching the perfect roasted—but not yet burnt—appearance, remove the pears and immediately top them with honey. Coating the pears with honey will create a sizzling effect and caramelize the fruit.
Lastly, unite the ricotta and agave combination in the center of each crepe pancakes and then fold each crepe in half and then once again to create a triangle shape. Top your filled crepes with honey and the prepared pears and enjoy.
The Ingredients
Crepe Batter:
2 cups milk
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
Agave Ricotta/ Pear filling:
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 pears, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
