How To: Strawberries and Cream Crepes

Merry Christmas Nibblers!

         Christmas is here and to celebrate, I wanted to share my 'Strawberries and Cream Crepes.' These are so easy to make and will please any crowd. If you're busy you can just make all the components in advanced, pop it all in the fridge a day ahead and assemble them the day of your occasion. Perfect for this festive season!

How To: Strawberry and Cream Crepes

What you'll need:
Makes 6-7 Crepes/Pancakes (23cm in diameter)
- 50g plain flour
- 2 Tbs. of caster sugar
- 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 drop of pink food colouring 
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
- 1/2 cup of milk (125ml)
The Filling:
- 1 punnet of Strawberries sliced into approx. 5mm wide slices(250g)
- 150g thickened cream (heavy cream)
- 1 Tbs. caster sugar
- 1tsp. vanilla essence

How To: 
Crepe batter Preparation:
1. Beat eggs, sugar, food dye, oil, vanilla essence and milk until well combined
2. Add flour and stir until incorporated
3. Sieve the crepe/pancake batter through a sift into a new bowl to rid of the lumps
4. Cover the batter mixture and leave at room temperature for 30-60 minutes
The Filling: Attend to filling component now while waiting
5. Fill a large bowl with water and ice to make an ice bath (To ensure the cream doesn't split)
6. Pop a small mixing bowl into the ice bath and add cream, sugar and vanilla then whisk until hard (about 5 minutes) then set in fridge until needed
Crepes/Pancake component
8. Lightly spray frypan (If it's a non-stick fry pan, you won't need to oil it)
9. Heat frypan on low heat
10. Using  a small ladle or 1/4 cup, mix the crepe batter and then add into the middle of the fry pan
11. Swirl the batter around the pan to the edges
12. Cover the frypan and leave for approx. 1.5 - 2 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges
13. Slide the crepe/ pancake onto a plate and repeat until the batter is finished
14. Cover the crepes/ pancake with some cling film and leave in the fridge to cool for approx. 30 minutes
15. Construct pancake - a dollop of cream in the middle of the crepe, 3-4 strawberry slices on top and then fold in the sides and fold.

          I hope you're all having a lovely Christmas! I'm so happy with the recipes I've been able to put out during this festive period despite being so busy with work. May you all have an amazing day and enjoy with your friends and family. Hope you enjoyed this recipe!

Much love,
       Merry Christmas!

                      Jo

How To: Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

Hi Nibblers!

         Spring is only a week away for those of us in the southern hemisphere. To welcome the months of hay fever, flowers and sunshine I decided to whip up a batch of 'Strawberries and Cream' cupcakes! These cupcakes are extremely easy to make and will not only look great on a plate, each one cupcakes comes with a special surprise. To top that all off, strawberries are selling at great prices in Sydney right now which makes it the perfect time to test these babies out.

How to: Strawberries & Cream Cupcakes

Yields 12-14 medium cupcakes

What you'll need:
Cupcake component
- 1 cup or 180g self-raising flour (plain flour will work just
remember to add a pinch of salt)
- 2 tsp. of baking powder
- 1/2 cup or 80g of cocoa powder
- 50g butter (softened to room temperature)
- 3/4 cup or 150g of sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup or 250ml of milk
- 3/4 tsp. Vanilla Essence
- 12 Lindt strawberries and cream truffle balls
- 6 strawberries roughly sliced

Strawberry cream frosting component
- 4-5 strawberries roughly diced
- 300ml of thickened cream (or whipping cream)
- 3 Tbs. of sugar
- 1 tsp. of vanilla essence

How To: Cupcake

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius

2. Line tin with cupcake patty pans

3. Sift together flour, baking powder and cocoa in a medium mixing bowl then set aside

4. Beat together the softened butter, vanilla essence and white sugar in a large mixing bowl until well combined and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes)
5. Add eggs in one at a time and mix 

Strawberry & Chocolate batter

6. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the milk into the butter/sugar mixture and mix

7. Repeat step 6 until all ingredients are all combined
8. Add sliced strawberries and gently mix until well incorporated

9. Spoon about 2 Tbs. of the cupcake mixture evenly into each of the lined patty pans
10. Add  Lindt truffle into the centre of each patty pan
11. Add a further 2-3 Tbs. of batter into patty pans or until it fills up to the 3/4 mark

12. Pop into the oven for 18 minutes checking with a skewer at the end to see if it's cooked

13. Rest the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes

How To: Strawberry cream frosting
1. Pre-chill your mixing bowl and cream in the fridge to minimise the chance of your cream splitting
2. Beat cream, sugar and vanilla essence until soft peaks form (about 4 minutes using a hand/ stand mixer)
3. Add diced strawberries and continue mixing until desired texture (about 2 minutes). I like the frosting to be quite stiff because it holds more shape when piped onto the cupcakes
4. Decorate your cupcakes

       I made the mistake of pushing my Lindt truffles to the bottom of the patty pan so most of the cupcakes didn't have the oozy effect when cross-sectioned. However, they tasted delightful and thoroughly enjoyed.

Don't push those truffles to the bottom!

Truffle sunk and burst itself at the bottom of the patty pan

Batman

     

       I would also love to thank Kevin for making my baking adventures much more enjoyable by spoiling me with Batman, my new KitchenAid stand mixer! I'm so excited to use it and can't wait to share more recipes with you.
     
        Hope you enjoyed this post and leave a comment if you gave this a try.

Nibble Away,
         
            Jo