Lemon Crêpe Soufflé
Thin crêpes are folded over lemon pastry cream and baked; the beaten egg whites folded into the pastry cream cause the filling to puff. The crêpes are dusted with confectioner’s sugar and drizzled with raspberry puree and creme anglaise for service.
Ingredients
- Crêpes
- Flour - 1 cup
- Water - 3/4 cup
- Milk - 2/3 cup
- Eggs - 3
- Canola oil - 2 tablespoons
- Pinch of salt
- Butter - 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons)
- Lemon Pastry Cream
- Vanilla bean - 1
- Milk - 2 cups
- Sugar - 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons
- Eggs - 4, separated
- Flour - 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon
- Juice and rind of 2 lemons
- Garnish
- Raspberry purée - 3/4 cup
- Crème Anglaise - 1/4 cup
Instructions
To make the crêpes: In a medium bowl, stir the ingredients together until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Melt a tablespoon of the butter in an 8-inch crêpe pan, saute pan, or skillet over medium-high heat. Add enough batter to thinly coat the pan, spreading with the back of a large spoon if necessary. Cook just until set, about 1 minute; when the edges are firm, flip the crêpe and cook 30 to 45 seconds on the other side, until just starting to brown. Remove from the pan. Repeat to use all the batter, adding butter to the pan as necessary.
Stack the crêpes as they are made, separating them with squares of parchment paper. The crêpes may be made ahead of time and chilled or frozen until ready to use.
To make the pastry cream: Split the vanilla bean. Put the milk in a saucepan and scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the milk, then drop in the pods. Scald the milk: bring just to a boil, then remove from heat. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and 1/4 cup of the sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture has lightened in color. Whisk the flour into the egg mixture. Take the pods out of the milk. Pour a large spoonful of the hot milk into the egg mixture and stir to blend, then pour the egg mixture into the milk and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly as it thickens. When the pastry cream is thick enough to hold its shape slightly, remove from heat and whisk as it cools. Whisk in the lemon zest and juice. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy; add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat until the meringue stands in firm peaks. Fold the pastry cream and meringue together.
To assemble: Preheat the oven to 450 F. Brush 2 baking trays with butter and lay 4 crêpes on each tray. Put a very large spoonful of the pastry cream on one side of each; fold each over the cream and press slightly to let the crêpe adhere to the cream. Bake 5 minutes, or until the filling has puffed and risen.
To serve: Place 2 crêpes, folded sides back-to-back, on each plate. Drizzle with raspberry purée and dot with crème anglaise.
