Baked Eggs in Crepe Cups

During the work week, breakfast is primarily a foraging event --toast, coffee, maybe a bowl of frosted cereal (that would be Sweetie-Pi's choice), leftovers from dinner (that would be mine).

But then the weekend happens, and now we can celebrate the meal.

I have a crepe cookbook that my friend Tim gave me about 15 years ago. I've held onto it all this time, have often looked at it, savored some of the recipes. I've even made one or two recipes out of it, years ago. (Hanging my head in embarrassment here.) Not that it's any real excuse, but crepes just seem so fancy to me. I'm so not fancy. But there's a secret part of me wants to be though; it's my inner child. My inner child is fancy. My inner child is tap dancing for attention. Time to acknowledge her and let her out to play, I decided. What could be more elegant or fancy than crepes for breakfast?

And so I turned to my crepes cookbook and rediscovered this recipe. These crepes are thin, delicate, golden. They were so delicious that I ate my "mistakes" without anything in or on them. They would've been splendid with a dollop of jam.

It does take a wee bit of practice to make a crepe. I don't hacrepe pan, just a small Teflon coated fry pan, about six inches in diameter. A little oil (we're not frying!) in a preheated pan, a little batter, a little swirl. Cook over medium heat. Wait a minute. Turn. That's all there is to it. Pretty much, anyway. As I said, it takes a bit of practice to get it right. I read somewhere that the first crepe never comes out perfect; I think my first four crepes weren't as lovely as I wanted.

Basic Crepe Batter

1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine milk, eggs and butter in mixing bowl. (I used a 4 cup measuring cup so I could pour from it when I needed it.) Beat until well combined. Then add the flour and salt, and beat until smooth. This batter is very thin. Refrigerate for about one hour. You could actually make this batter up to a day or two ahead. Just before you going to use it, give it another good stir.

When you and the pan are ready, with one hand hold the pan off the flame, and with your other hand, pour in about an 1/8 cup of batter into your pan. It will probably take a few trials to determine how much batter to use. Swirl and tip the pan so that the batter evenly coats the bottom of the pan. When the crepe looks dry on the top and the edges have lightly browned, loosen the edges with a spatula. Now, if you have asbestos fingertips, you can help the spatula do its job by gently pulling the crepe with it. Or, if you're fortunate enough to have tongs, they work wonderfully. (I have some wooden ones that I bought at a craft fair, and they are just perfect. Metal ones could easily tear these delicate crepes.) Turn the crepe and cook maybe for another 30 seconds on the second side. You can stack these with waxed paper in between each crepe.

Egg Cups

Prepared Crepes (one for each person)

1 egg for each cup

Light cream or half and half

Cooked, crumbled bacon (about 1 tablespoon per serving)

Parmesan cheese

Prepare a muffin pan (not the supersized size muffin pan) by greasing it well. Then take one crepe and line the muffin cup, taking care now to tear it. The crepe is larger than the muffin cup so you'll have to gently fold it in. Break an egg into each crepe-lined cup. Spoon about one tablespoon of cream over the egg. Add one tablespoon of bacon and top that with a good sprinkling of cheese.

Bake in a preheated 325F oven 15 to 25 minutes or until the eggs are done to your liking.

Rave reviews from Sweetie-Pi, and I have to agree. Baked Eggs in Crepe Cups. My fancy inner child is very happy!