Recipes

Cornmeal Crêpes with Strawberries, Mascarpone, and Rosemary

Casey Lane

The Tasting Kitchen Venice Beach, CA

Casey Lane made these delicious crêpes for his Beard House dinner in May of 2011.

Ingredients

Strawberry Conserva:
 
  • 1 pound strawberries, hulled and quartered
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons dry pectin
Cornmeal Crêpes:
 
  • 3 tablespoons butter, plus more for cooking crêpes
  • 1 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour, divided
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
Mascarpone:
 
  • 1 cup mascarpone
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • Pinch nutmeg

To serve:

  • Butter
  • Rosemary leaves from 1 stalk

Method

To make the strawberry conserva, place the strawberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice in a stainless steel pan. Bring to boil, then slowly whisk in the pectin. Cook just until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 20 minutes. Refrigerate overnight.

To make the crêpes, melt the butter in a small pan. Continue to cook over low heat until the butter is light brown and has a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and set aside.

Blend the milk and 5 tablespoons of the pastry flour in a food processer until smooth. Add the remaining flour, cornmeal, and salt and blend until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, blending after each addition. Slowly stream in the brown butter while blending. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

To cook the crêpes, heat a wide pan over medium-high heat. Melt a small amount of butter in the pan; swirl the pan so that the butter covers its entire surface. Pour a half cup of batter into the pan and swirl to form a thin crêpe. Cook until golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer to a large plate. Repeat until all the batter has been used.

Mix together the mascarpone, sugar, and nutmeg in a medium-sized mixing bowl and set aside.

Melt some butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the rosemary leaves and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the rosemary to a plate lined with paper towels.

Fill each crêpe with as much strawberry conserve as desired and fold. Top with a scoop of mascarpone and fried rosemary leaves.

Yield

6 to 8 servings