Oh you’re having a party, you say? A special party? Like the blockbuster blogging event, the anniversary of Fiesta Friday? The event where the premier food bloggers can’t wait to bring their favorite dish every week? And you’d like me to bring a dessert, you say? You don’t have to ask me twice!
Austrian Crepes in Custard Sauce, served with Apricot Caramel Sauce
Let me describe to you a showstopper of a dessert, one that takes you to a village square in Austria; the stars twinkling, snow gently falling, people gathering, chatting, children running. The air – crisp, clean. Horses with sleigh bells. Time suspended.
Then imagine you’ve come inside to toasty warmth, shedding the cold with your hats, mittens and coats to find the sights and smells of Christmas embracing you. These Austrian Crêpes are ready, just coming out of the oven. the smell of custard and apricots filling the air.
On the table now, just being dusted with powdered sugar as the clink of plates and silverware and warm conversation fill the room. Crispy, golden brown peaks jut out above the pool of creamy custard sauce, and the warmed Caramel Apricot Sauce sits to the side to be passed and drizzled over all.
Austrian Crepes in Custard Sauce, served with Apricot Caramel Sauce
Then the room quiets, the conversation comes to a standstill. A bite of these Austrian Crêpes is an experience like no other. A subtle, delicious combination of flavors and textures.
The top of the crepe is a little crunchy and sweet, giving way to the rather fluffy, flavorful filling, punctuated by the fruit. That’s all enveloped, a few bites in, by the luscious vanilla custard, warm and silky. And the Apricot Caramel Sauce, drizzled over the top, just takes this to another level.
Making these crêpes is an anniversary for me; I’ve made these crêpes every Christmas season for the past twenty years. It seems a fitting dish to bring to Fiesta Friday’s anniversary.
Austrian Crepes in Custard Sauce, served with Apricot Caramel Sauce
Currants, hard to find here, are often substituted by me with dried cherries, cranberries, and even once, finely diced dried pear. The same or a complimentary fruit can go in the Apricot Caramel Sauce in place of the Apricots. It’s all good!
These crêpes are a bit of a project, but I make it easy by breaking it down into components. That keeps me from filling up my kitchen with pots and pans and dirty dishes and makes baking these off, even on a busy Holiday, a piece of cake…er, crepe!
- First I make the Apricot Caramel Sauce ahead and reheat for serving.
- The Crêpes are made ahead, layered between wax paper in the fridge for a day or two or in the freezer for longer. Think about doubling the crepes and portioning them out to freeze for a quick, elegant dessert anytime. Yeah, who’d be the hero, then?
- Day of, mix up the filling, spread it on the crêpes and roll them, whip together the custard sauce and bake them off. 🙂
With just a little planning, this extravaganza of a dessert comes to the table looking absolutely effortless! Happy Holidays, everyone!
Austrian Crepes in Custard Sauce, served with Apricot Caramel Sauce
Baked Austrian Crepes in Custard Sauce
Overview: First make the filling, then assemble the crêpes and place in dish, whisk together custard sauce, pour over the crêpes, then bake.
Preheat oven to 400°F after making the filling. and lightly butter a 14-inch-long oval gratin dish or other 2 1/2-quart shallow baking dish.
Filling:
- 1/2 cup dried currants (see note at bottom of page)
- 1 cup boiling-hot water
- two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup apricot jam
- 2 large eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
In a small heat proof bowl plump currants in boiling-hot water 15 minutes and drain. See note. Pat currants dry between paper towels.
In a bowl with an electric mixer beat whites with a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks. Add sugar to whites and beat meringue until it holds stiff peaks.
In a food processor or in a bowl with an electric mixer blend together well the cream cheese, jam, yolks, zest, and vanilla.
Fold cheese mixture into meringue gently but thoroughly and fold in currants.
Assemble the Austrian Crêpes:
- 18 to 25 crêpes, from this recipe for crepes
- filling, above
Working with 1 crêpe at a time, spread about 2 tablespoons filling down the center of each crêpe. Fold in half, and roll from the center. Gently pat to make sure filling is distributed throughout the length of the crêpe.
With a sharp knife cut crêpes on a diagonal in half and arrange vertically, cut side up, overlapping slightly. Crêpes may be prepared up to this point 4 hours ahead and chilled, covered. Bring crêpes to room temperature before proceeding.
Custard Sauce:
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup milk
In a small bowl whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, and milk and pour over the stacked crêpes, letting custard seep between layers. If necessary, depending on how tightly packed, nudge the crepes just a bit to allow the custard to seep through.
Baking:
Bake crêpes in middle of oven 35 to 40 minutes, or until puffed and custard is nearly completely set. Watch carefully as this varies quite a bit with different pans and ovens.
Have a piece of foil ready to gently lay over the top of the crêpes once they’ve turned golden brown, as the tips may easily burn. Cool to warm before serving.
Finish and accompaniment:
- confectioners’ sugar for dusting
- Apricot Caramel Sauce, warm
Dust crêpes with confectioners’ sugar and serve with apricot caramel sauce.
Note: save the drained off liquid from the dried fruit & mix it withany of the seltzer water leftover from the crepes for a fun, fizzy, fruit flavored carbonated water.
Adapted from Gourmet, December 1994.
Put Your Own Spin on It:
- Vary the dried fruits: Slice dried cherries, cranberries, dried peach or pear, or other dried fruit.
- Vary the soaking liquid for the dried fruit. Consider Brandy, Grand Marnier or another favorite instead of water.
- If desired, another jelly or jam could be substituted for the Apricot, although one might want to be mindful of the color of the finished filling. Some jams may produce a startling color which might be rather off-putting when cutting into the dish.
- Change the Caramel Sauce to complement the changes in the filling.
A little Chef bonus – juice from the dried berries & leftover Soda
Let’s talk about saving money:
This is a long post, so I’m just going to give a few notes for the cost. The dried fruit – buy it during the holidays if possible on sale with a coupon. I think my package ran $1.50, regularly $2.99, but I didn’t use the whole thing, so I’ll estimate 50 cents. Cream cheese is often on sale for a dollar a package, and always a dollar at Aldi, $2.00. Jam was $3.29 full price, I saved a bit with a coupon and sale bought the jar for $2.50, used about 1/3rd so it cost me 83 cents. The rest of the sugar, eggs, milk, etc., ran around 60 cents. This totaled up to $3.93.
Add the $3.93 plus the $1.90 for the crepes and $1.58 for the sauce, it all comes to about $7.40. Even with careful shopping this is not exactly “cheap,” but you’d be hard-pressed to make a gourmet dessert of this caliber that serves 10 to 12 for much less.
I’ve spent much more than that for just the chocolate in a dessert, before! 🙂
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