Chocolate Bacon Bourbon Crepes with Maple Pecan Syrup

by Mary C Wiriya
(Dyersburg, Tennessee)

Ingredients:

For th Crepes:

2 oz. of dark chocolate (4 squares of a 4 oz bar)*
1 cup of whole milk
½ cup half and half
2 tbsp of cocoa powder
1 tbsp of granulated sugar
1 cup of all-purpose flour
2 eggs


Bacon Bourbon Filling:

8 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Maple Pecan Syrup:

1 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup chopped pecans


Directions:

For the Crepes:

Pour milk into small sauce pan and heat gently. Combine chocolate with milk. If using bar chocolate, break into pieces before combining. Stir gently until chocolate is completely melted.

Combine chocolate-milk mixture and remaining ingredients into blender and process until smooth.

Important:
Refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes. This gives the batter the opportunity to rest and fully come together.

Yield: 12 chocolate crepes

*Note: For this recipe, we used a Ghiradelli 60% Bittersweet Cacao Baking Bar, which is the one we like best.



Bacon Bourbon Filling:

Add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of your electric mixer and beat on medium speed until creamy and blended.

With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar.

Add in the bourbon and vanilla extract, then beat the frosting on medium to high speed until creamy, scraping down the sides when needed.

Stir in half of the bacon with a spatula. Time to fill the crepes.


Assemble crepes:
Lay each crepe on a flat working surface. Pour ½ cup of bacon bourbon filling into each crepe. Roll up. Top with Maple Pecan Syrup (warm or cold).



For the Maple Pecan Syrup:

In a 2-quart saucepan, heat the syrup, stirring occasionally, until hot, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, add pecans, let the syrup sit in the pan and infuse for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour.