A lemon cheesecake crepe with blackberries and mango topping, cinnamon pecans, and a lemon sauce.
This is the third in our series of posts about Desert Crepes and How to make a Crepe Bar. Now that we’ve given you the basics for how to make crepes using an electric crepe maker and have shared our favorite “basic” recipes, it’s time to create your own Dessert Crepe Extravaganza! You are going to love some of these basic fillings and toppings that will transform your crepe bar from ordinary to extraordinary.
Lemon Cream Filling is a favorite. It’s essentially the same filling you would find in a lemon meringue pie, but we add a little whipped cream to make it less intense:
- ½ cup cold water
- 2 Egg yolks, slightly beaten
- 7 Tablespoons corn starch
- Zest from one lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1½ Cups hot water
- 1 Tablespoon butter or margarine
- 1½ Cup Sugar
- 1 Cup cream, whipped
- Combine sugar and hot water and bring to a boil in a heavy pan.
- Mix cold water and cornstarch in a separate small bowl.
- Add corn starch paste to hot sugar mixture and stir until mixture thickens.
- Stir a small amount of hot mixture into beaten egg yolks; stir eggs into hot mixture and cook about 2 min longer until thick and set.
- Add lemon rind, lemon juice, and butter. Stir to blend. Cool, stirring occasionally. Stir in whipped cream. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to fill crepes, whisk lemon pudding until smooth.
- Use as an alternative to crepe-cream. Will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator.
Assembling Crepes for your Crepe Extravaganza
When serving crepes to a large crowd, pre-roll the crepes (with filling inside) ahead of time, then add toppings just prior to serving
If you are making crepes for a crowd and opt not to have guests assemble their own, we recommend the following procedure. A crepe bar buffet van move slowly if you provide lots of options and variety. People can be slow to make decisions, or they’ll just try some of everything, making it difficult to judge quantities. A do-it-yourself-assembly crepe bar is great for a small party but gets complicated if you are trying to serve guests at a larger reception. You can simplify by assembling the crepes ahead of time and letting your guests choose just the toppings that go over the crepes, or you can handle all of the assembly yourself. Here are are a few “advance prep” tips for your next crepe extravaganza:
1. Prepare the crepes, crepe-cream and other fillings, slice fruits, make cheesecakes and other items you intend to use a day or two ahead and store them until you are ready to assemble crepes.
2. Fill prepared crepes with crepe-cream, mousse, lemon, or other filling.
3. Top with slices of cheesecake or brownies (optional) and roll or fold as preferred.
4. Place filled and folded crepes on a 10×15 cookie sheet lined with waxed paper or parchment, wrap the tray in plastic, and store until ready to serve crepes.
5. Place each crepe on a small plate (6-1/4 “ or 7” plastic plates are about the right size).
6. Spoon compote, fruit sauces or fillings (blueberry, cherry, peach, apple for example) over crepes.
7. Top with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.
8. Sprinkle on fresh fruits, cookie crumbs, coconut crunch, nuts, or other condiments.
9. Decoratively drizzle with chocolate, caramel, or other sauce.
Guests created their own creations at a recent crepe extravaganza we held as part of a baby shower.
Delicious Drizzled Sauces for Crepes
- ¼ cup corn syrup
- 6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- Combine corn syrup and chocolate chips in a small saucepan and heat on medium-low until melted. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Continue stirring until smooth (4-5 min.)
- Whisk in heavy cream until smooth and well-blended.
- This sauce can be served warm or cool.
- To store, transfer to an air-tight container and refrigerate. Stores for up to 3 weeks.
Ruth’s Fudge Sauce takes a little more time to prepare, but it’s also very good:
- 1-1/3 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup margarine
- 2 squares unsweetened chocolate (or substitute 2 rounded Tbsp. cocoa)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Combine all ingredients in saucepan and heat over very low heat, stirring just until sugar is dissolved.
- Cover and continue to heat for 20 minutes without stirring.
- Then stir until ingredients are blended. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until sauce is thickened (about 15 minutes).
- Remove from heat and stir in 1 Tablespoon vanilla.
- Serve hot or cold.
- Makes abt 1-1/2 Cups
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- 1½ cups butter
- 1½ cups light corn syrup
- 1 can (4 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
- Combine ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil.
- Cook until mixture reaches 238 degrees or forms a firm ball when added to cold water.
- Undercook if using for crepes. Can be thinned with milk if it gets too thick to drizzle onto crepes.
Triple Berry crepes take advantage of fresh seasonal fruits.
Fruit Compote Crepe Fillings
Fruit toppings are also delicious and can be put right inside the crepe with the filling. Try any fruit pie filling or any of the following three fruit compote recipes:
- 2 cups blueberries
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup blueberries, sugar, and water. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Many berries will begin to burst and syrup should thicken.
- Add remaining cup of berries and allow them to heat through.
- Refrigerate until ready to assemble crepes.
- 10-oz package frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries), thawed
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup tapioca
- 1 cup fresh berries
- In a large saucepan, combine berries, sugar, and tapioca and let sit for about 20 minutes.
- Gently heat mixture, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
- Cool (can refrigerate at this point until ready to use).
- 1 pound of fresh strawberries, sliced
- 4 ½-ounce package Junket Danish Dessert (pudding and pie filling glaze)
- Prepare Danish Dessert as indicated on package for fruit sauce, except increase water to 2 cups.
- Cool completely.
- Add sliced strawberries. Can be refrigerated overnight at this point.
Crepe Extravaganza Sprinkles, Crunchy Toppings and More…
Coconut crunch topping is delicious on an apple cheesecake crepe.
- 9 cups Rice Krispies
- 2 cups flaked coconut
- 8-ounces of cashew pieces (optional)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½
tsp soda
- Combine cereal, coconut (and cashews if using).
- In a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda.
- Pour over cereal mixture and toss to coat.
- Transfer to two foil-lined 10x15 baking pans and bake at 250 for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown. Stir every 15 minutes.
- Cool in pans on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.
- Use wherever a crunchy topping is called for.
- ½ Cup soft margarine
- ½ Cup flour
- ½ Cup brown sugar
- ½ Cup oatmeal
- Combine sugar, oatmeal, and flour.
- Add softened margarine and mix until crumbles.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.
- Store until ready to use (does not need to be refrigerated).
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- ½ cup sugar
- 1½ cups pecan halves or sliced almonds
- Line a baking sheet with buttered foil and set aside
- In a heavy skillet, melt 3 Tablespoons butter and stir in ½ cup sugar.
- Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until sugar melts and turns a rich, golden brown.
- Add 1½ cups pecan halves (or almond slices) and blend until nuts are well-coated
- Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet.
- Cool completely and break into small pieces.
- Store until ready to use (does not need to be refrigerated).
We hope you’ll enjoy this crepe extravaganza as much as we do. It’s a great go-to party idea because it’s so adaptable. Crepes can be filled with almost anything, so this should get your creative juices flowing. Leave a comment below and let us know when and how you served your first crepe extravaganza!
Chocolate crepe with nectarines, raspberries and chocolate sauce.
[…] crepes and crepe bars have been a family favorite for so long, I’ve acquired recipes for lots of variations, both for the basic crepes and for the delicious and delightful variations of fillings and […]