spring is finally on it's way and as the days have gotten warmer, the snow has finally turned to rain (fingers crossed that it stays that way.) and as we all know, april showers bring may flowers; so why not cook with them? okay, okay, it's a bit early for flowers to be blooming, but i'm getting excited - and i had some dried lavender on hand from last spring.
i've always found the idea of edible flowers sort of romantic, but i never found the taste of lavender pleasurable. granted, the only time i had tried lavender before these crepes was in a macaron filling, and it was way. too. strong. so, now, several months later i decided to give it another shot, using less this time. combined with the delicate sweet flavor of earl grey tea, cocoa powder, topped with the richness of a drizzle of golden honey; the aromatic flowers were absolutely heavenly. these crepes reminded me a bit of a warm cup of london fog; accented with lavender, of course. if you didn't know, a london fog is basically an earl grey latte. i like to sweeten mine with a bit of honey. (if you're unfamiliar with london fog and you are an earl grey fan, you definitely have to try it.) anyways, back to the crepes!
to start, i ground the tea leaves and lavender together into a fine powder. i just used the contents of a tea bag, but if you have loose tea that works great too! continuing with the batter, i thoroughly whisked together all my dry ingredients (including the lavender and earl grey) before pouring in the milk, eggs, and melted butter. continue whisking until everything is combined and you have a smooth, runny batter. you can also make your batter in a blender if you'd like, i just prefer to whisk by hand. after you have your batter (and after you've greased your crepe pan), pour about a quarter cup onto the center of the pan and pick it up by the handle, tilting it until the batter coats the whole surface. do this quickly or the batter will not spread. trust me, i've had plenty of hole-y crepes.
it's time to flip your crepe when the batter looks set. this usually takes about a minute (i have the heat on medium-low.) to flip, gently slide your spatula under your crepe, lift it from the pan, and flip it quickly. once it's flipped, the crepe only has to cook on the other side for several seconds since it's so thin. finally, you can remove your floral deliciousness from the pan and onto a towel so it doesn't get soggy as it cools. then you just return to your pan and pour, flip, repeat!
recipe
makes around 15 crepes.
ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon earl grey tea leaves (or the contents of one tea bag), ground.
- flowers of 2 sprigs lavender, ground.
- 1 cup flour.
- 1-2 tablespoons sugar.
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder.
- 1 1/2 cups milk.
- 2 egg whites.
- 1 whole egg.
- 1 teaspoon butter, melted.
- toppings/fillings (i filled mine with whipped cream and blueberries and topped with more whipped cream and a drizzle of honey.)
method:
1. grind the lavender and tea leaves together into a fine powder using a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder.
2. thoroughly whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and tea mixture.
3. add the milk, egg, egg whites, and melted butter to the dry mixture and whisk to combine. batter should be smooth, uniform, and runny.
4. grease and heat crepe pan on medium-low heat.
5. pour about 1/4 cup of the batter in the center of the pan, then quickly pick it up by the handle and turn it until the batter spreads and coats the whole bottom.
6. let the crepe sit for about a minute (or until the batter looks set) before flipping.
7. to flip, gently slide your spatula under the crepe, lift it from the pan, and flip it quickly back onto the pan. the crepe only needs to cook on the other side for several seconds because it is so thin.
8. remove finished crepe from pan and onto a towel so it doesn't get soggy as it cools, then repeat until you are out of batter.
9. finish them off with your favorite toppings/fillings or eat them plain.
