Violet Creme Filled Crepes With Blueberry And Violet Sauce

Flowers add vibrancy to meals from simple salads to elegant desserts. One of the first flowers to appear in the spring is the graceful violet. This recipe is actually a revision of a recipe I sent out to clients some 24 years ago for Easter. You know - the old days when you printed off postcards and did bulk mailings. I've refined the recipe a bit and added blueberries more delight. These make a lovely spring brunch.

Servings: 4 Prep Time: 1 hour Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the Crepes

• 1 cup milk of choice I use soy milk

• 2 large eggs at room temperature

• 3/4 cup flour

• 1/2 tsp organic sea salt

• 1 Tbsp sugar

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter melted

• 40 violets or johnny jump ups greens removed, washed and blotted

Blueberry and Violet Sauce

• 1 1/2 cups violets stems removed

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup blueberries reserve a few fresh blueberries for serving if desired.

• 3 Tbsp maple syrup

Viola Filling

• 3/4 cup whipping cream

• 3 Tbsp maple syrup

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup ricotta cheese

• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

• 1 cup violets

Instructions

Crepes

Combine the first 5 ingredients and blend with a whisk. Let batter stand for 1 to 3 hours before use. Brush a 7 or 8 inch crepe pan with a little butter. Heat pan over medium heat. Pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter and spread it thin. Immediately place 3 or 4 violets face up on the batter. Cook about 30 - 40 seconds then flip the crepe and cook for another 30 seconds or until golden and batter is set. Remove from heat and place on parchment paper.

Blueberry and Violet Sauce

In a heavy sauce pan combine violets, blueberries, water, maple syrup. Simmer, stirring occasionally, over medium high heat for about 15 minutes or until reduced by half. Strain the syrup through a sieve pressing the violets and blueberries to extract their color. There should be a scant 1/2 cup of syrup.

Violet Creme Filling

1. In a chilled bowl whip the cream, maple syrup and vanilla until stiff peaks are formed. Fold in the cheese and nutmeg then gently fold in the flowers. Refrigerate the the filling until ready for use. Remove from refrigerator about 10 minutes before assembling the crepes.

2. On a plate, lay a crepe, flower side down. Spread about 1/3 cup of the filling on the crepe and roll up. Gently turn the crepe over so that the folded sides are on the bottom and the violets show. On a clean dessert plate pour about 1/2 the violet and blueberry syrup on bottom. Gently lay 1 or 2 crepes on over the syrup, decorate with a few blueberries, fresh violets and whip cream if desired.

Recipe Notes

Nutritional highlights: This is a very sweet dish, that nourishes Yin, Blood and fluids. To break it down. See Playing With Pansies for the energetics of violets.

Primary season: Spring