Carrot Crepes Put The Savory Vs Sweet Debate To Rest

For all of their delicacy, crepes are an extremely versatile food that can handle pretty much whatever you give them. If you prefer sweet fillings, you can roll up fresh fruit, cream cheese, or a nutty, chocolaty spread in the thin pancakes. If you want something a little more savory and hearty, you can make ham and gruyere crepes. Whether you prefer your breakfast savory or sweet, there is one unexpected ingredient that gives crepes an unexpected boost of flavor and works great with both flavor profiles.

The next time you cook a batch of perfect crepes, add carrot puree to your batter before ladling it into your crepe pan. Then, once the crepes have cooked up, you can fill them with complementary flavors, of which there are many for carrots. If savory is what you're craving, cheese, meat, or veggies can pair well in the crepe. But if you'd rather satisfy your sweet tooth, you could mimic the flavors of a carrot cake.

If you prefer starting your day with hearty, savory fare, know that many umami-rich ingredients pair well with carrot crepes. Cheeses like cheddar, gruyere, Swiss, and even goat cheese go well with these delicate pancakes. If you want to line the carrot-flavored crepes with veggies, you can stuff crepes with mushrooms, sautéed zucchini, or spinach, and if you want to ramp up the crepe flavor, include roasted carrots.

Recreating the flavors of a carrot cake with carrot crepes is very easy. Before cooking the crepes, you can add some of the cake's signature seasonings to the batter: A carrot cake recipe typically includes spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. For the filling, you can simply spread in a layer of cream cheese frosting. If you want to add a little texture, include shredded carrots or chopped walnuts in the filling, which are also typical to find in the cake.

And here's something you might not have considered: If you don't own a food processor, or you don't feel like pureeing veggies yourself, there is an easy way to get pureed carrots into your carrot crepes — use baby food. Just as adding baby food to cake batter infuses cakes with moisture and flavor, it can work in your crepes to the same effect.

Carrots aren't the only vegetables that can make flavorful, and colorful, crepes. You can also add zucchini pulp to your crepe batter. Zucchini pairs well with savory additions, such as cheeses and vegetables. Or, a chocolate and hazelnut spread inside the zucchini crepes could create a craveable snack reminiscent of homemade chocolate zucchini bread.

Sweet potatoes can also play well in either the sweet or the savory culinary playgrounds. Make sweet potato crepes as you would carrot crepes, then add a little bit of garlic butter or parmesan cheese for a savory option; opt for a generous sprinkle of brown sugar and drizzle of honey, along with some banana slices if you want to take the sweet route with your sweet potatoes crepes.

Helpful hint: If you add carrot — or any type of veggie — puree to your crepe batter, pay attention to the moisture content. Although crepe batter should be pretty thin, you will want to make sure that the crepes have structure once cooked. If the pureed veggies make the batter too thin and watery, you can thicken it with a little flour.