Dennys Valentines Day Chocolate Crepes with Sweet Ricotta Cheese

 

Here’s a romantic idea for Valentine’s Day to serve your sweetheart. Maybe you will just make these easy decadent yet light calorie crepes all for yourself! These crepes are made with healthy whole wheat flour. You can use regular flour if you like as is done traditionally.

The beauty of this dessert is that it is also a protein sweet so it doesn't play roller coaster with your blood sugar like most sweets.

Watching your weight? Just do like they do in Spain – have one-bite sweets! You can make these half the size of a normal crepe and only use 1 Tablespoon filling for about 60 calories each crepe. What’s nice about crepes as you can make them up only to what you want to eat, no leftovers languishing in the refrigerator.

Small crepes are really nice when you want a little something sweet and a cup of strong French Roast coffee in the middle of a lazy Sunday afternoon. It’s a great way to unwind from the work week and prepare for the onslaught come Monday morning.

You can make the crepes up separately and refrigerate or freeze; they can be gently reheated in the microwave for a few seconds. The filling can be made ahead a few days and refrigerated, best reheated gently on the stove. Then assemble, serve and wait for the kudos from anyone lucky enough to enjoy this chocolate and cheese treat with you! Everyone will want to know you!

Note: If you wish to use regular flour make sure you chill the batter for about 1 hour so the flour absorbs the liquid. It is supposed to be about the consistency of thick cream, if too thick then thin with a little water or milk.

Note: If you don't like sugar or are diabetic, try substituting Splenda in equal amounts.

Dennys Valentines Day Chocolate Crepes with Sweet Ricotta Cheese

Yield: 6 servings, 10 servings if smaller crepes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: about 30 minutes

Calories: about 120 per crepe, about 60 calories for smaller crepe

Ingredients:

¼ cup whole wheat flour

2 Tablespoons unsweetened Hershey’s cocoa powder, sifted

1 Tablespoon light brown sugar

½ cup low-fat organic milk

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Pan spray/can substitute clarified butter (calorie count will be more)

¾ cups low-fat ricotta cheese

2 Tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon Godiva dark chocolate liqueur

1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

Grated peel of 1 orange

Fresh julienned strips of mint

Directions to make crepes: Combine flour, cocoa and sugar in bowl. Whisk in milk. Beat this mixture to a nice froth. Then fold in the egg white.

Chill the batter at least 30 minutes with whole wheat flour - and about 1 hour if using regular flour.

Heat a 7-inch nonstick skillet; spray with oil or ½ teaspoon clarified butter. When up to heat again spoon in 2 Tablespoons of batter and then tilt the pan in a circular motion to coat the bottom of the pan thinly.

Cook until edges firm up and curl a bit, about 1 minute. Now flip over the crepe to cook the other side for about 30 seconds.

Continue until all the crepes are cooked. As each one is made, stack them between sheets of waxed paper to freeze or chill. If you are making them to eat right away, a few stacked crepes shouldn't stick together. (Unless you are in a really humid environment. Come on; who makes crepes in their shower?)

Directions to make filling: Blend together ricotta cheese, honey and chocolate liqueur. Spoon 2 Tablespoons into each crepe, roll or fold them.

Serve with strawberries, grated orange zest and julienned fresh mint.

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Whenever I purchase a liqueur for a recipe I’m always wondering just what else I can do with it. Here’s an idea for a Valentine’s Day cocktail using Godiva liqueur and expresso.

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Fria Cafe Italiano

From: Webtender.com

Ingredients:

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• 1 oz Vanilla vodka (Stoli Vanil)
• 1/2 oz Godiva liqueur
• 1/4 oz Sambuca
• 1 oz chilled Espresso
• 1 oz Cream

Mixing instructions:

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Mix all ingredients into an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with ground espresso.

For more drink recipes using Godiva liqueur:

Webtender Drink Database

Webtender Godiva Liqueur Drink Recipes

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For more recipes - Food Blogs by Denny Lyon:

Romancing The Chocolate

Comfort Food From Louisiana

I’m having great fun with all 5 blogs. These blogs are a great place to deposit all that information formerly parked in my head and overflowing in my office files and attic. If you are curious, you can go to one and it will direct you to the others. If you haven’t started blogging, you might want to start today!

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Thank you everyone from HubPages, StumbleUpon, AOL, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Delicious, Email friends and Mister Wong for your support!

hub #22 

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