Crepes, both a meal and a dessert

Okay, I will admit I have made crepes before, but never on my own. The one time I attempted the recipe occurred in Culinary class last year, and I had the assistance of 4 group mates and the experience of the Chef. I don't really count that as cooking crepes since I didn't even cook half of the recipe. This time I got the full experience and realized just how careful you have to be when cooking crepes. The first few crepes i made, well they did not exactly turn out to well. It took me a while to perfect the whole "quickly spread the crepe batter around the pan" part of the instructions, but I eventually caught on, as the picture shows. I like challenges, and those tricky little crepes gave me one! At least flipping them over to the other side to cook was slightly easier than originally putting the batter on the pan. (The time I made crepes in culinary class, my partner Amy cooked the crepes, i helped make the dough and stir the caramelized apples.) Making the caramelized apples was definitely the easier task, though the recipe I used this time did not create the same product as the one Chef gave my group to use last year. The ingredients and amounts must have been different. After I finished cooking the apples, I used them to fill the crepes(as shown in the picture). Before I actually ate my crepe though I made sure I added some whipped cream, it makes everything taste better. To my surprise, I successfully--after a few trials and errors that is--created a dish that could be served both as a food and a desert!

When I think of crepes I think of French food...
When I decided on making crepes, I thought they were strictly a French food, it did not occur to me that other countries across Europe also have their own variations. When I further researched crepes, I noticed the name Suzette appearing frequently and I did not understand why. Eventually, I realized that Suzette crepes are the most famous form of French dessert crepes. While all across the country side, farmers and noblemen had frequently enjoyed crepes as an after supper dessert, crepes officially gained their fame with the creation of the Suzette crepe. As the story goes, the Prince of Whales arrived at a restaurant with a young lady named Suzette. After finishing his meal, the Prince ordered a crepe and the cook, a Mr. Henry Charpentier hurriedly created a crepe with an orange sauce flambe, naming it after the lovely lady in the Prince's company. The crepe I made obviously is not the Suzette, but i decided to make one of my favorite types of crepes instead, caramelized apple.

Other Apple Treats in American history...
As I looked through two different cookbooks pertaining to America's history (one about the Colonial period, the other about the Civil War) one fruit appeared in both dessert sections, the apple. One, a recipe for an apple pie, the other a recipe for Skillet-Fried apples. Both books portray sweet desserts as a luxury, because for the colonists the ingredients were not plentiful and Civil War soldiers did not have the time or the opportunity to make desserts. Though when the soldiers had the opportunity, they would dry apples to prevent them from going bad and save them as a treat in the later months when fruits were even more scarce. Not only did apples provide a good treat for the soldiers after days and days of marching, the dried apples also provided health benefits such as vitamin C which helped keep the warriors healthy. I guess the saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away has some truth to it." American colonists though, did not eat apples for their health benefits. Apples were one of the many fruits that filled pies in the colonies when a special occasion called for a special dessert, since, like I said earlier, the ingredients were hard to come by. Both the Colonists and the soldiers took advantage of what desserts they could create, often using the apple as a filler.

The recipe...
Go to this link if you want to use the same recipe i did to create my lovely crepes!
http://www.ihavenet.com/recipes/Caramelized-Apple-Crepes-Recipe-Emma-Christensen.html