LEMON SOUFFLÉ CREPES
Nostalgically flipping through my old personal cookbook, a fat exercise book covered in brown paper and a foodie picture, which I started in my first year of high school, I came across lots of treasures.
The first was for Dot’s Pavlova. Dorothy Minnie Katoomba Daniel, aka Dot, was my grandmother and I still make her pavlova recipe today.
On page 203 I found my friend Pamela’s recipe for Lemon Soufflé Crepes. I had all but forgotten about this recipe which she, a marvellous cook, made for us many years ago and had generously passed on.
I remember it being pretty fabulous so I decided to try my hand at a gluten-free version.
The recipe requires a couple of spoonsful of a lemon soufflé mixture spooned onto crepes which are folded, sugared and baked. The soufflé mixture rises within the crepes creating delicious pillow-like puffs with crispy edges and ambrosial interiors.
I haven’t had the original for over twenty years but I’m pretty sure our gluten-free version lives up to the memory.
Rosie
LEMON SOUFFLÉ CREPES
Serves 6-8
Crepes
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons caster sugar
200 gm Revenge Gluten-Free Plain Flour Mix
¼ teaspoon salt
350 ml milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Extra butter for greasing the pan
Extra caster sugar for sprinkling
Icing sugar for dusting
Whipped cream to serve
Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until well combined. Add the flour and salt and whisk until smooth. Mix in half the milk and when combined, add the other half. Whisk in the melted butter and stir until well combined and the batter is smooth and lump free.
Alternatively, place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Refrigerate until thickened slightly for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
Heat a 20-23cm, preferably non-stick, crepe pan over a medium heat and brush with butter.
Stir the batter well then pour a scant ¼ of a cup (around 60 ml) of the batter into the pan, swirling and tilting the pan to coat the bottom evenly.
Cook for 1-2 minutes until the top of the crepe is set, the bottom is lightly coloured and the edges lift easily. Turn using a spatula, or flip the crepe, to cook the other side for around a minute until it is light golden brown in spots.
Transfer the cooked crepe to a plate with the second side uppermost.
Repeat with remaining batter, brushing the pan with butter in between each crepe. Add more milk to the mixture if it becomes too thick at any time, making sure to the stir the batter well before making each pancake.
Stack the cooked crepes on top of each other until needed.
Lemon Soufflé Filling
45 gm unsalted butter
45 gm gluten-free corn flour
125 ml hot milk
3 eggs, separated
130 gm caster sugar
4 tablespoons lemon juice, strained
1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely grated
1 pinch salt
Melt butter in a medium sized, heavy based saucepan. Stir in the corn flour and cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
Slowly add the milk. The mixture will become very thick.
Transfer to a bowl, add the egg yolks and beat vigorously until combined. (The mixture will be very dry at this stage. Once the sugar has been added the correct consistency will be achieved.) Add 100gm of the caster sugar and beat until combined. Add the lemon juice and beat until smooth. Add the lemon zest and salt.
The mixture can be made several hours in advance and stored in the fridge with plastic wrap directly covering the surface.
Bring back to room temperature before proceeding.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a shallow, oven-proof serving dish with butter.
Whisk the egg whites until medium peaks form. Add the remaining 30gm caster sugar and whisk until the mixture is firm and meringue-like.
Fold a large spoonful of the meringue into the lemon base-mixture then gently fold in the remaining meringue.
Dollop two tablespoons of lemon soufflé mixture on one half of each crepe. Gently cover with the other half then carefully fold into quarters.
Place the folded crepes on the prepared oven-proof serving dish, overlapping each one a little.
Sprinkle with extra caster sugar and bake for 10 minutes.
Dust with icing sugar and serve with whipped cream.