Crepes without mystery

Crepes are only tricky when you allow them to be. Try thinking of them as thin little pancakes with a lacy edge.

Let's take care of the pancakes first. It's a light batter, and it needs two things: it wants to be put through a sieve to be perfectly silky, and it needs to rest before being a base for your ethereal pastry cream.

You want that pastry cream to be really creamy - so make certain your flour is both incorporated and cooked. Keep the cream light by putting a piece of plastic wrap right on top of it.

(Mr. Grausman harbors an intense dislike of that yucky "skin" cream develops when exposed directly to air - so don't think you can "just stir it in" when you're filling the crepes.)

Remember this, too: it's a chocolate sauce (silky and smooth, not chunky!). If you're planning to use it mostly for garnish, figure out how to drape some of it right on the crepes! (People - including judges! - like a little taste of chocolate within dessert.)

BTW  - keep the sauce away from the pilot light. If you accidentally scorch it, there's no recovery and your final plate is going to have a scorched taste.

If that strawberry on your mise en place is shouting, "Garnish!" at you, figure out how to get a bit of strawberry into the crepes! Don't tease people with a garnish that's not in the dish.

You might want to check out earlier CCAP competition images for presentation ideas -- or, google "dessert crepes presentation" images for some ideas on plating this dessert.

Coming next: best tips for competition from CCAP alumni AND how to do your best at your post-cooking interview.