Berry’d Crespella

Fifteen years ago I made this dessert for my mother’s birthday. It’s a delicious puff pancake that I topped with a warm chocolate-hazelnut sauce. It was nice and light for after dinner. Even though it was April, it was still really cold outside, so the warm puffy pancake was a perfect dessert.

I got this recipe directly from epicurious.com, so if anyone has an issue with the name “crespella,” please take it up with epicurious! I don’t know how crespella came about – I am aware that the Italian crespelle is more like a crèpe. And this puff pancake is more like a German version of a puff pancake, which is like a flat soufflé.

Instead of using a nutella sauce over the hot pancake, I’m using chilled, sugared berries. After all, it’s summer, and berries are delicious right now. Plus, I love the combination of hot and cold, just like sweet and savory.

So here is the recipe I used from epicurious. Be ready to serve it as soon as it comes out of the oven. Oh, and I just did one little thing different – I used goat’s milk instead of dairy cream.
cresp4

Oven Crespella with Berries

3 cups of berries of choice, halved if necessary
Sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, mine included the seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups goat’s milk, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Confectioners sugar

Place the berries, I obviously used blueberries and raspberries, in a medium bowl and sprinkle with the sugar. I didn’t use much, maybe only 1 tablespoon, but if you like your berries sweeter, use more like 1/4 of a cup. Toss the berries together gently and set them aside to macerate. The crespella itself is not very sweet, so sweeter berries isn’t a bad idea.

Another option for the berries is to mash a few of the berries and mix that purée in with the whole berries. That will make them more sauce-like.

berries

Put a 12-inch ovenproof heavy skillet in middle of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.

Whisk together flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and 1 1/2 cups goat’s milk in a bowl.

cresp9

Add butter to skillet and heat over the stove until golden brown, less than 1 minute. Pour batter carefully into the skillet.

cresp8

Immediately place the skillet in the oven and bake until puffed, set, and golden, 20 minutes. Check at 15 minutes to make sure everything is going well.

cresp6

It will puff up in the oven.

cresp7

Cool pancake in skillet on a rack 5 minutes (it will sink).

cresp11

Cut wedges and serve warm along with the sugared berries.

cresp5

Dust with confectioners sugar if desired.

cresp
A dollop of crème fraiche would also be good with this crespella!

verdict: Since I made this before, I knew it already was good. But unfortunately, it didn’t benefit from the goat’s milk, which I was hoping it would. I love the flavors of goat’s milk and berries. Live and learn!

By Published On: July 23rd, 201330 Comments on Berry’d Crespella

About the Author: Chef Mimi

As a self-taught home cook, with many years in the culinary profession, I am passionate about all things food-related. Especially eating!

30 Comments

  1. thesinglegourmetandtraveller July 23, 2013 at 10:10 AM - Reply

    Looks a lovely dessert and perfect for summer.

  2. sallybr July 23, 2013 at 10:18 AM - Reply

    Beautiful dessert! loved your nail polish too (side comment, could not resist.. :-)

  3. dianeskitchentable July 23, 2013 at 10:54 AM - Reply

    That looks wonderful & I agree with you on the choice of berries for topping. Sometimes just a little bit of sweet works just fine, especially in the summer.

  4. KellyInTheKitchenDotNet July 23, 2013 at 10:57 AM - Reply

    Oh gorgeous!! Could this be any more tempting?! Awesome :)

  5. abrooke65 July 23, 2013 at 12:18 PM - Reply

    This is beautiful. This recipe is right up my alley. I love the berries and I can only imagine how it plays against he goats milk, eggs and vanilla. This is a serious dessert!

  6. richardmcgary July 23, 2013 at 1:18 PM - Reply

    It does remind me more of a german pancake. :) Regardless, it looks scrumptious and I’m sure everyone loved it.

    • chef mimi July 23, 2013 at 1:54 PM - Reply

      I know. At least I didn’t get any negative comments!

  7. tastytreats13 July 23, 2013 at 2:30 PM - Reply

    Wow! This looks sooo good! Yum! I must try this recipe out!

    • chef mimi July 23, 2013 at 6:42 PM - Reply

      You’ll have to tell me what you think!!!

  8. johnnysenough hepburn July 23, 2013 at 7:30 PM - Reply

    Looks and sounds delightful. And not overly sweet :) Perfect!

  9. Bam's Kitchen July 24, 2013 at 3:54 AM - Reply

    Delicious! I also do not like my desserts overly sweet so breaking it with the tart berries is perfect.

  10. denise and sandy July 24, 2013 at 5:03 AM - Reply

    looks wonderful and with berries in season, it will be perfect. thanks!

    • chef mimi July 24, 2013 at 10:53 AM - Reply

      You are so welcome! It would be good for breakfast, too!

  11. mmmarzipan July 24, 2013 at 6:22 AM - Reply

    This looks so good! My whole family would love it!! :)

    • chef mimi July 24, 2013 at 10:53 AM - Reply

      How is that precious baby of yours?

      • mmmarzipan July 24, 2013 at 12:26 PM

        She’s good, thank you Mimi! :) She’s a cuddly little one… and always smiles when she wakes up from a sleep and sees me there. Warms my heart :)

      • chef mimi July 25, 2013 at 12:32 PM

        That is so nice!!! Only one of my babies was cuddly…

  12. emmabarrett1508 July 24, 2013 at 8:35 AM - Reply

    Wow you said the magic word Pancake! I adore pancakes and there is nothing nicer than accompanying them with tart berries. Very excited to try this at home. Thanks for sharing. Emma xx

    • chef mimi July 24, 2013 at 10:53 AM - Reply

      It’s so easy, but a pretty presentation. And it’s really good with nutella thinned with some cream or milk!

  13. radhika25 July 24, 2013 at 10:41 AM - Reply

    Those berries look so tempting!

  14. The Global Garnish Geek July 29, 2013 at 11:30 AM - Reply

    Such a great idea to use all the fabulous berries that are out right now!

Leave a Reply to mmmarzipanCancel reply