These crepes with bourbon poached pears are a sophisticated delight. The thin and crispy crepes are perfect with the sweet and delicate poached pears and added bourbon whipped cream. This is an easy but impressive dessert.
What are crepes?
Crepes are very thin and very delicious french pancakes. They are made with a runny crepe batter that makes the most wonderful thin and a little bit crispy pancakes. The most wonderful thing about crepes is that you can fill them with anything delicious; strawberries and cream, blueberry jam, chocolate, or bourbon poached pears. Crepes can also be savory and are wonderful with tomato sauce and pepperoni! Just omit the sugar and cardamom for savory fillings.
How to make crepes:
Crepes are so easy to make!
- Blend all the wet ingredients and the eggs together in a blender.
- Then add in the dry and blend until there are no lumps left in the batter.
- The next step is to chill the batter; this is crucial, so don't skip this step.
- Once chilled, you just pour ¼ cup of the batter into a hot skillet, swirl it around to ensure it gets evenly distributed, and cook for 2 minutes, flip, and cook for 30-45 seconds more. Then serve.
Tips for making great crepes:
In theory, crepes are super easy to make, but a few technical steps have to be mastered to make really good crepes from home.
- Chill the batter; this is super important, so don't skip this step.
- Make sure your pan is thoroughly heated and is hot but not too hot. If your crepe batter doesn't start to thicken right when you add it to the hot pan, it's not hot enough, and if your butter is burning, your pan is too hot.
- Swirl your skillet around immediately after adding the batter to make sure it covers the pan and that the batter is evenly distributed.
- Have parchment or wax paper sheets ready to use to cool your crepes.
Crepe fillings:
Crepes can be sweet or savory and both versions are absolutely delicious. This recipe can be used for both as well. If you are going to make a savory crepe and not a sweet crepe, just omit the sugar and the cardamom.
Sweet crepe filling suggestions:
- Strawberries and whipped cream
- Bananas and chocolate
- Blueberry jam and whipped cream
- Lemon curd and sugar
- Baked apples and caramel
Savory Crepe filling suggestions:
- Tomato sauce and mozzarella and pepperoni
- Ham and gruyere cheese
- Pesto, chicken, mozzarella
Bourbon poached pears:
While crepes can be filled with so many delicious things, these bourbon poached pear crepes are truly special and are topped with bourbon whipped cream. Poached pears are super easy to make and require minimal effort. You just need to simmer peeled pears in the poaching liquid until they are soft and easily cut with a fork.
why bourbon and cardamom:
I love the flavor combination of cardamom, pear, and bourbon. The delicate and floral notes of the pears and cardamom go so wonderfully with the spice, caramel, and vanilla notes in bourbon. You can really use any bourbon, but a bourbon with heavy spice notes would be ideal for this recipe. I used Woodford Reserve.
Thanks so much for reading about these crepes with bourbon poached pears! If you make them or have any questions, go ahead and leave your feedback in the comments!
Looking for more dessert recipes? Check these out!
Apple Cider Cupcakes with Bourbon Icing
Gingerbread Cake with Bourbon Cream
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crepes with bourbon poached pears
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: French
Description
These crepes with bourbon poached pears are a sophisticated delight. The thin and crispy crepes are perfect with the sweet and delicate poached pears and bourbon whipped cream.
Ingredients
Crepes:
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup water
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ⅛ tsp almond extract
- 1 cup and 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ tea salt
- 3 tablespoons melted butter for the skillet
Poached Pears:
- 4 Bartlett or Bosc pears, peeled
- 2 cups bourbon
- 4 cups water
- Cinnamon stick + ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Star anise 3
- ½ tsp Cardamom
- 1 cup sugar
Bourbon whipped cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp bourbon
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions
- Make the crepe batter but combining the milk, water, eggs, and extracts in a blender and blend until it all comes together. Add in the sugar, flour, and salt and blend until there are no lumps left. Cover and chill the batter in the fridge for 30 minutes and up to one day.
- While the crepe batter is chilling, poach the pears. Bring the water, bourbon, and spices to a boil in a 4-6 quart pot. Once boiling, add the pears, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the pears until they soft and a fork easily pierces them, about 30 minutes. Once poached, remove from the liquid and let cool. Keep the liquid to pour on top of the crepes and use the remaining for cocktails!
- After the crepe batter has been chilled, heat an 8-inch skillet on medium-high heat. Make sure it is fully heated before adding the batter. Brush some of the melted butter over the pan. Pour ¼ cup of the batter into the pan and quickly swirl the pan so that the batter is as evenly distributed as possible and reaches all sides of the pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until the batter is set, flip, and cook for an additional 30-45 seconds. Set cooked crepe on a plate, cover with parchment paper and repeat until all the batter is used.
- After you make the crepes, make the bourbon whipped cream but whipping all the ingredients with a mixer until soft peaks form.
- Serve the crepes folded with the pears sitting inside or on top and then top with the bourbon cream.
Notes
- Chill the batter; this is super important, so don't skip this step.
- Make sure your pan is thoroughly heated and is hot but not too hot. If your crepe batter doesn't start to thicken right when you add it to the hot pan, it's not hot enough, and if your butter is burning, your pan is too hot.
- Swirl your skillet around immediately after adding the batter to make sure it covers the pan and that the batter is evenly distributed.
- Have parchment or wax paper sheets ready to use to cool your crepes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 781
- Sugar: 90.6g
- Sodium: 230.7mg
- Fat: 22.3g
- Saturated Fat: 13.2g
- Trans Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 124.2g
- Fiber: 9.9g
- Protein: 5.6g
- Cholesterol: 151mg
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