What are Some Crepe Fillings?

food cooking

Crepes are thin, usually flour, pancakes, originating in France. Crepe fillings can be of almost any sort, but generally fall into either a sweet or a savory category. Traditional crepe fillings are sweet, and in Brittany, where they originated, they are served with a traditional cider. Crepes that use savory crepe fillings are often referred to as meal crepes, and can contain virtually anything you can imagine eating in a wrap of any sort. Dessert crepes are usually made with wheat and a little bit of sugar, while meal crepes usually use buckwheat instead, and no sugar.

Jam is one of the more popular crepe fillings for dessert crepes, and may be any sort of fruit jam or sauce. Strawberry jam is particularly popular, especially when combined with fresh strawberries and a whipped cream. This sort of crepe is often dusted with a light layer of powdered sugar, as well, to make it even more sweet.

Nutella® is also a very popular crepe filling for dessert crepes. Nutella® is an Italian hazelnut spread that was developed during World War II to deal with a shortage of chocolate. It contains a relatively small amount of chocolate, with hazelnut as the main base, and is one of the most popular dessert crepe fillings in the United States. Nutella® can also be found in crepes made in Paris and sold on the streets, often out of small crepe kiosks lined with Nutella® jars to advertise. This type of crepe often includes sliced bananas as one of the crepe fillings as well, and may be sprinkled with powdered sugar as well.

Other dessert crepe fillings include actual chocolate, whipped cream or just straight cream, nuts such as hazelnuts and almonds, cinnamon, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, huckleberries, pineapple, mango, papaya, peaches, apples, nectarines, ice cream, maple syrup, agave, lemon, nutmeg, and all different sorts of sugar. Almost anything sweet that can be thought of to add to a dessert can be used as crepe fillings, usually either in a semi-liquid form or else sliced thinly, to complement the delicate nature of the crepe itself.

Very popular meal crepe fillings include meats and cheeses, making them into almost sandwich-like wraps. One popular crepe uses prosciutto, an incredibly thinly-sliced smoked ham, and a tangy cheddar, also thinly sliced. This makes for a rich savory flavor blended with the sharpness of the cheese, that can be served either as a lunch food or as a more savory breakfast.

Mushrooms and cheese are also popular meal crepe fillings, and can create almost an omelet-like food, with the dough of the crepe filling the part of the eggs. Artichokes, broccoli, asparagus, and eggplant are also used as crepe fillings for lunch or dinner, and almost any vegetable of decent substance may be used, although those with more savory flavors tend to be preferred. Greens are not often used, although occasionally one will see more hearty greens like collards or kale as crepe fillings.

Ultimately, almost anything that can be imagined can be found as a crepe filling somewhere. As creperies become more popular in the United States, even more options are becoming available day by day. The best creperies will often have specials, allowing diners to experiment with truly strange crepe fillings, like lobster and caviar or lychee and dragonfruit.

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1
Some of my favorite crepe fillings are nut paste filling, and cottage cheese filling.

For nut paste i finally grind usually walnuts, i think other nuts would do too, but i stick with walnuts. I add sugar, this part can be adjusted to taste, and sugar substitutes like splenda can be used instead of sugar. To that i slowly add warm milk mixing it until the consistency is that of a paste. You want to add enough milk so that you will be able to spread it, it can not be too thick or too runny.

For cottage spread, I prefer to use small curd, I also add sugar and little bit of lemon. A few drops of juice and a little rind can be added too. Lemon adds flavor, but you do not want to overpower it. Without lemon the filling might be bland tasting.

- obsessedwithloopy

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Written by Brendan McGuigan
Last Modified: 11 October 2009

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