Fall-Spiced Pear and Cherry Crepes

We are having a celebration and you are invited! My friends at Le Creuset asked me to help celebrate the first anniversary of their store in the posh, hip Denver shopping district of Cherry Creek North. The dedicated Le Creuset store houses an onsite kitchen were regular cooking demonstrations are held and any Le Creuset product may be demonstrated by their knowledgeable staff at any time.

In my family Le Creuset is a legacy purchase. My grandmother cooked with Le Creuset, my mother cooks with Le Creuset as do my husband and I. Like diamonds for a girl, a kitchen just can’t have enough Le Creuset and fortunately there is an abundance of products (always in array of beautiful colors) from which to choose.

Knowing a party is only as fun as the gift bag, Le Creuset and Boulder Locavore are offering one lucky reader the chance to own one of their newer pieces:  the Signature 2 ½ quart 2-in-1 Pan in Cherry red (suggested retail price $220.00). This is a traditional lifetime-guaranteed, enamel-coated cast iron pan with a twist; the lid is also a skillet perfect for making a second dish. This unique pan is available now at Le Creuset Signature stores and online.

No  celebration is complete without a special dish and I’ve whipped up a new recipe for Fall-Spiced Pear and Cherry Crepes using my new 2-in-1 pan. It was perfect for cooking the autumnal fruit and boozy raisin crepe filling (family-friendly recipe option noted), while swirling the crepes in the ideally sized skillet. That’s just the start of all that can be done with this pan set. Your imagination is your only limitation!

5 from 1 vote

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Fall-Spiced Pear & Cherry Crepes

Crepes lend a special festive flair to any meal and no one will believe how easy they are to make. Filled with a rustic, seasonal blend of fruits make these Fall-Spiced Pear & Cherry Crepes a celebration of the season.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword gluten-free crepes, pear and cherry crepes

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 8 filled crepes

Calories 252 kcal

Author Toni Dash

Ingredients

Ingredients for Pear & Cherry crepe filling:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted Butter
• ½ cup Golden Raisins
• ½ cup dark Rum*
• 3 cups Pears (approximately 3 large pears), ripe but firm, peeled, cored and cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 ¾ cups Sweet Cherries , fresh or frozen/thawed, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon ground Cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground Nutmeg , preferably freshly ground
• 1 tablespoon granulated Sugar

Ingredients for the Crepes:

• ¾ cups Flour , gluten-free or with gluten (I used King Arthurs Gluten-Free Flour Blend)
• ¼ cup French Vanilla Half and Half (I used Organic Valley brand)**
• ¼ cup Half and Half
• ½ cup Whole Milk
• 2 large Eggs , room temperature
• ¼ cup fine grain granulated Sugar
• ¼ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice
• Garnish: Powdered Sugar , if desired
• Supplies: heat-resistant soft spatula for maneuvering crepes , wax paper, clean kitchen towel, 2 dinner plates

Instructions

Instructions for the Pear & Cherry crepe filling:

1. Place the golden raisins in a small mixing bowl. Cover with the rum and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Drain from the rum (you can discard or use the rum for something else; it will not go back into the recipe). Rough chop the raisins.
2. In a medium-large saucepan, melt the butter.
3. Add the pears, cherries, raisins, spices and sugar to the pan. Bring to a low simmer and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Instruction for making the Crepes:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend to fully combine. Place the covered blender jar into the refrigerator and chill for at least one hour.
2. Assemble the following: a dinner plate with a clean cotton kitchen towel, a second dinner plate and 7 sheets of wax paper roughly the size of the dinner plate.
3. Select an 8-inch skillet or crepe pan. If not non-stick, prepare the pan with cooking spray (note: I do not use cooking spray on Le Creuset pans. I used a small amount of butter for the first crepes I made in the skillet and then found I did not need anything and the crepes turned out beautifully, easily sliding out of the pan when done).
4. Over medium-high heat, pour ¼ cup of the crepe batter into the heated pan. Swirl the batter around by tipping the pan until it covers the bottom and lower sides of the pan. Allow crepe to cook until it appears dry on the side facing up (about 1 minute). Gently work the spatula underneath the crepe to flip it to the opposite side. Cook about 15 seconds on the opposite side.
5. Remove the crepe and place onto the clean kitchen towel to briefly cool.
6. Continue Step 7 to cook the remaining 7 crepes. When finishing a new crepe, move the cooling crepe from the dish towel to the dinner plate and place a sheet of wax paper on top of it. In the end you will have a stack of crepes with wax paper between them which prohibits them from sticking to each other.

Assembling the crepes:

1. Place one crepe on a serving plate. Using a slotted spoon, spoon approximately ½ cup of fruit filling into the crepe in a line (vs. putting it all in the center of the crepe). Gently roll one end over the filling and then the other end over the first end. Roll crepe over, tucking the ends underneath it. Spoon some of the filling juices over the crepe and dust with powdered sugar if desired. Should there be remaining fruit filling when the crepes are assembled, that maybe dished over the top of the crepe as well.

Recipe Notes

*Should you wish to make the recipe without rum, combine a ½ cup of warm water with 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to soak the raisins instead.

*If you are unable to find French Vanilla Half and Half, you may use regular half and half and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to it.

The majority of the Total Time is spent chilling the crepe batter for an hour.

Nutrition Facts

Fall-Spiced Pear & Cherry Crepes

Amount Per Serving

Calories 252 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 2g10%

Cholesterol 51mg17%

Sodium 30mg1%

Potassium 301mg9%

Carbohydrates 41g14%

Fiber 3g12%

Sugar 25g28%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 225IU5%

Vitamin C 5.9mg7%

Calcium 57mg6%

Iron 1.2mg7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Disclosure:  I was supplied a duplicate Le Creuset 2-in-1 pan for the purposes of this post. All opinions are my own.