Crepe

Pears bring out the earthy, roasted flavor of the buckwheat crepes.

Rava dosas—savory, crisp-edged crêpes popular in South India—are typically made from semolina and rice flours. Stuff them with hearty vegetables cooked in a blend of spices, chile, garlic, and ginger.

This batter is very adaptable: If you want savory crêpes, simply omit the sugar. For flavored crêpes, replace the vanilla with a flavored extract such as almond, a liquor like rum or brandy, or a flavored liquor such as Kirsch or Amaretto. Crêpes freeze well—you can make a big batch and stack them, separated by sheets of waxed paper, in a tightly sealed container or plastic bag. Stored this way, they'll keep for several months. Allow them to defrost at room temperature, then reheat as described in the do-ahead instructions below. These crêpes can be served with any number of different fillings. One traditional French option is a hearty squeeze of fresh lemon juice and light dusting of sugar. Sliced fresh bananas and a drizzle of Nutella are also popular.

Crêpe Bundles with Caviar and Sour Cream Innovative and self-taught, Barry Wine redefined American haute cuisine at New York City's Quilted Giraffe in the 1980s. His iconic—and most copied—dish was the bite-size beggars’ purse, a chive-tied crêpe bundle filled with caviar and crème fraîche. We've turned it into a first course and added chives and brown butter to the crêpe batter.

Gooey Nutella has long been a guilty pleasure, and we can't think of a better way to enjoy it than as a sweet, creamy sauce spooned over the tender middle and crisp edges of this baked pancake.

The praline is also great on its own as a snack; it would be an excellent gift.

These crisp golden crêpes, filled with shrimp, pork, and vegetables, are both delicious and fun to eat. Simply wrap each crêpe in a lettuce leaf, tuck in fresh herbs like mint and basil, and dip it in the sweet-and-sour sauce.

This dessert needs some last-minute assembly, so appoint a helper or line up the components to make it all go smoothly.

Forget pie: Strawberry and rhubarb are together again in a whole new way. (Use purchased crepes if you're short on time.)

The classic caviar-topped blini goes sweet: Tender dessert blinis get trimmings and toppings — including tapioca "caviar" — for a create-your-own dessert.

Round out your breakfast: Add 1 cup steamed skim milk (heat on stove or in microwave until milk starts to froth) topped with 2 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp honey.

Crêpes au cidre
These are not the thin, delicate crêpes you may be used to. Made with baking powder, they are rustic-style: heartier and a little thicker — and perfectly suited to soaking up plenty of sweet syrup. Hard cider (fermented apple cider) can be found in the beer section of most supermarkets.

Light and fluffy, these impressive desserts look, smell, and taste extraordinary — meringue gives them a cloudlike texture, while quince adds a delicious fragrance and beautiful pink hue. And they're very manageable for a small dinner party if you make your crêpes and prepare the quince ahead (see cooks' note, below). Bring them both to room temperature when you sit down to dinner; when it's time for dessert, you'll only need to beat your egg whites and assemble the soufflés for baking.

Palacsinta When crêpes entered the American consciousness, they had an air of fussiness about them. But the truth is they're very easy to make — and a regular nonstick skillet and ordinary spoon work just as well as any crêpe pan or tiny specialty ladle. This Austro-Hungarian dessert strikes just the right balance of lightness and sweetness.