Grain-Free Blood Orange Crepes with Pomegranate and Pink Peppercorn

I love crepes, but I don’t make them nearly as often as I should. They’re so easy, and the variations are practically endless – you can make them savory or sweet, and serve them rolled or folded several different ways. Crepes may be simple to make but they look really impressive when plated, so they’re an ideal dessert for a special occasion like Valentine’s Day. Want to wow your sweetie this February 14th? Make this dish! It’s grain-free, and if you stick with coconut oil instead of ghee it’s dairy-free as well. The batter is flavored with fragrant vanilla seeds and ground cardamom, and the cooked crepes are topped with whipped coconut cream and a gorgeous sauce of blood orange simmered with crushed pink peppercorns. It’s a pretty spectacular combo.

A few tips before you get started: make sure your eggs and milk are at room temperature, otherwise the melted fat will clump up when you add it to the batter. To crush the pink peppercorns for the sauce, use a mortar and pestle, a rolling pin, or the flat bottom of a skillet. And speaking of that blood orange sauce, it may be tempting to dump the dry arrowroot right into the pan instead of mixing up the slurry first, but don’t skip that step or you’ll end up with clumps of arrowroot in a sauce that doesn’t thicken. If you’re using coconut cream instead of dairy for the whipped topping, be sure to refrigerate the can of coconut milk for at least 8-10 hours before opening it. And finally, cook the crepes in a well seasoned cast iron or high quality non-stick pan, and go very light when greasing the pan. I like to use a pastry brush to swipe just the barest coat of ghee onto the surface between crepes – any more and they can turn out greasy. Okay, that’s it for my notes, time to make crepes!

Toss all the ingredients for your crepe batter into the blender and process until it’s frothy and uniform. If you don’t have a blender you can do this in a mixing bowl with a whisk or hand beaters.

See how foamy it is? Let the batter rest while you make the sauce and whipped cream.

If you need a primer on cutting those blood orange supremes, see here. Once you have all your segments cut out and you’ve squeezed every last drop of juice into the bowl, add it to your saucepan and bring to a simmer.

Sprinkle in the coconut sugar, crushed peppercorn, and salt, and stir to dissolve the sugar, adjusting the burner to keep it at a bare simmer.

Let the sauce cook down for about 2 minutes, just until the liquid is a bit reduced. Whisk up your arrowroot-pomegranate juice slurry, stir it into the sauce, and simmer for about a minute until it thickens.

This is the finished sauce. Isn’t it stunning? Set it aside until you’re ready to serve the crepes, and go whip the cream now. If you’re using coconut milk, scrape just the solids from the top of the can into a mixing bowl, stopping when you get to the water – you can either drink the coconut water or save it for another recipe. If you’re using heavy cream, simply pour the whole half-pint into the bowl. Either way, crank up your mixer or beaters to high speed and whip the cream for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Pop it into the fridge to chill until you’re ready for dessert.

Time to cook the crepes. Get the pan hot, then turn the heat down to medium-low. Give the batter a quick pulse or whisk to make sure it’s uniform, and use a ladle or measuring cup to pour a scant quarter-cup of batter into the pan. Tilt and swirl the pan to spread the batter into a thin, even layer that covers the surface, and let the crepe cook until the edges are nicely browned and you can easily lift it up in one piece.

Carefully turn it over and cook on the other side for about a minute, until it’s nicely browned and cooked through.

Transfer the cooked crepe to a plate and repeat the steps with the remaining batter, stacking them as you go.

Time to assemble these beauties…

Lay a crepe on a plate, and spread a thin layer of whipped cream over it.

Spoon some of the blood orange sauce onto the crepe.

Fold the crepe over once to enclose the filling.

Then fold it over again to form a triangle.

Take a second crepe and spread the whipped cream onto it.

Spoon on the blood orange sauce again, then repeat the folds.

Stack one folded crepe on top of the other at an angle.

Add a dollop of whipped cream, spoon more blood orange sauce over the crepes and around the plate, and garnish with some pomegranate seeds and chopped pistachios. Dig in, and have a sweet and happy Valentine’s Day!