Crepes with Nutella--Five Thousand Crepes of Love.

There are many ways of saying "I love you". For the past seven years I have been saying mine with crepes.

Ever since my older son Max, who has developmental problems, tried crepes at my friend's house, he fell in love with them. At that time he still had some oral motor problems and various food aversions, so I could not be happier that there was a new kind of food that he accepted and enjoyed.

He loves crepes so much that no evening passes by without a crepe and Nutella snack.

Every single day for the past seven years I have been making him crepes for supper. I fry them once a week in a big batch and freeze for the rest of the week. He usually has two or three of them, smothered with Nutella and rolled up, accompanied by a glass of milk. I counted today that for seven years, 365 days each year and a minimum of two crepes a day, I made, at least five thousand crepes.

It is just a tiny gesture of love to reward someone who has the sweetest and most gentle soul, but constantly faces everyday challenges and struggles so hard to reach his potential.

I believe that this culinary experience makes me a true crepe specialist at par with those French magicians who sell crepes on the streets of Paris. But my crepes are a bit different. This recipe is unusual. Its secret is in the beer that makes the crepes very thin and soft. They roll up easily and have a delicate, neither sweet nor savory, taste. Therefore you can stuff them with anything. The sweet versions are the most popular in my home. For Max it has to be the Nutella filling, for Philip Philadelphia Cheese and honey. Seasonal fruits and whipped cream are another delicious option. But also any savory stuffing can work with them, but this is for a separate post.

And tonight, like every night, it is a night of crepes with Nutella.

Beer Crepes
(Makes about sixteen crepes)

Ingredients:
1 bottle light beer,
2 cups milk,
2 and 1/2 cup flour,
2 eggs,
1 tbsp sugar,
1 tsp salt,
2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying.

Preparation:
1. Pour milk and beer into a large bowl. Add two eggs and beat with whisker.
2. Add flour. Beat until it makes smooth batter without any lumps. The batter should have consistency of heavy whipping cream. At the end, season with salt and sugar and let the batter rest for half an hour.
3. Preheat a 9-inch frying pan. Using a cooking brush coat the pan with oil. When the pan is hot pour in about 1/3 cup of the crepe batter.

4. Move the pan until batters spreads and covers the whole pan. Fry until the edges of the crepes are brownish. Flip over with a large silicon spatula and fry again on the other side.

5. Once the first crepe is ready, turn the heat to medium high and fry the rest of them, coating the pan with oil before each crepe.
6. Let the crepes cool.
You can smother them with jam, cheese and honey, or anything you want.

But there is really nothing better than to serve them with Nutella.

Hazelnut and Nutella Semifreddos--To Celebrate the 4th of July

Fourth of July is a very special day to me. And not because it is a national holiday but because it is Max's, my older son's birthday. The whole nation celebrates that day with him and he gets the most wonderful fireworks.

Almost each year we go to or organise ourselves a Fourth of July party, which culminates in admiring the fireworks sparkling over the Washington Capitol. I also typically make his birthday cake decorated with fruits in national colors--blueberries and raspberries. I like to make that cake as it is very light and great for this usually very hot day.

But Max is not a big fun of cakes and he never tastes it except for some of the fruits. So this year I decided to make something just for him--a dessert with Nutella, the ingredient that he loves most. I spotted that recipe in More magazine. I thought that combining Nutella in the dessert that reminds chocolate ice cream, which he likes a lot, would be a perfect. And on top of that it would be, half-frozen, as the name suggests--a perfect dessert for the hot days we experience.

Hazelnut and Nutella Semifreddo

Ingredients for the dessert:
1 jar (13-oz) of Nutella spread,
1/2 cup whole milk,
2 tbsp hazelnut liqueur (I used Frangelico),
1 tsp vanilla extract,
1/4 tsp salt,
2 cups heavy whipping cream.

Ingredients for the chocolate sauce:
1 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped,
1/4 cup cold water,
1/4 cup sugar,
1/4 cup light corn syrup,
1/ 2 tsp vanilla extract.

Preparation:
1. Heat a heavy duty frying pan and roast hazelnuts turning them constantly, until their skins become burned. Cool them down and with hands remove the burned skin.

2. Line the 12-muffin tin cups with aluminium cupcake foil liners.
3. Place Nutella in a food processor, add milk, liqueur, salt and vanilla and run it until the mix becomes smooth. Add 2/3 of hazelnuts and pulse until they become crushed into very small pieces.
4. In a large bowl beat heavy whipping cream until almost stiff. Fold it in the Nutella mixture in three portions.

5. Fill up the muffin cups and decorate with the remaining hazelnuts on top.

6. Freeze for 4-6 hours, until they are very firm. Remove frozen desserts together with the aluminium liners from the muffin tin and place in a large Ziploc bag. You can store them like that for up to two weeks.
7. To make the chocolate sauce combine water, sugar, corn syrup in a small pan and stir over the medium heat until the chocolate melts and the sauce becomes smooth. Cool down slightly and add vanilla. Cool completely and transfer to a small jar until it will be used.
8. Shorty before serving spread the chocolate sauce at the bottom of each serving plate. Remove semifreddos form the freezer and place them on the plates. Let them soften for 5-10 minutes and serve.