A sweet dessert to stun your loved ones with the fantastic fact that it is Spring…

…started out like this, here’s the Girls giving some smooches… (take a visit to Rain Crow Farm in my herbed goat cheese au poivre post):

…and then into the kitchen to make a batch of tangy, luscious goat’s milk yogurt. If you don’t make your own, no worries. Choose your favorite plain variety – but do give goat’s milk yogurt a try if you haven’t yet. The tanginess factor is perfect with the maple syrup flavoring (amount up to you – delight your taste buds – a generous drizzle – but not too much.) Here’s the recipe (click on the first photo to see in slide show format):

Assembling the ingredients for a batch of fresh yogurt, “Total Chef” yogurt maker in the background.

Heat milk to almost the boiling point, then cool. Whisk in active yogurt.

milk and yogurt starter poured into glasses and set into heated fermenter

One quart of milk plus 2 tablespoons of live active yogurt makes these seven glasses of delcious yogurt in 8-10 hours

fresh goat milk yogurt with a generous drizzle of maple syrup, the simple filling for these spring crepes.

Plus you’ll need several fragrant handfuls of these:

With an easy, delicious recipe for Maple Sugared Violets:

The sweet, delicate work station for making the maple sugared violets. Only thing better would be if I had freshly made maple syrup within reach!!

Make a simple syrup of 1 tablespoon maple syrup and 2 tablespoons water, bring to a boil and reduce by about a third. Cool, then dip cleaned, dry violets, shaking off the excess syrup. This makes enough to coat 30 or more violets.

Gently dredge, and/or sprinkle the violet with organic sugar. I pulsed the sugar in the food processor to achieve a finer grained sugar.

A beauty! Have you ever tasted sugared violets? These have a divine, subtle, maply flavor! Let them completely dry first, if you have the will power! The crunch and following sweetness of the flower itself is…exquisite!

a little excess maply sugar coating? In my eyes, no problem!

For safe keeping, let the maple sugared violets completely air dry, and stay OUT of tightly sealed plastic containers.

* Can you tell that the full-on jump into spring has made me exceptionally happy?

And a recipe of  — Beatrice Peltre’s La Tartine Gourmande’s  gluten free crepes (with a few, slight variations.) Thank you Bea! These are sooo good. I haven’t had crepes in years (gluten free girl having gone without until now!) Ooh! May I say this combination is pure HEAVEN on a plate? Here’s the recipe:

Orange Scented Crepes – with Fresh Goat’s Milk Yogurt and Maple Sugared Violets

These gluten free crepes are so easy – you will just love them. I varied Bea’s recipe by using orange extract rather than vanilla (omitting the cocoa she adds for the chocolate crepes), plus tapioca starch rather than corn starch. I also used a smaller pan, making six inch crepes rather than in the eight inch pan she uses.

• 3/4 c. millet flour
• 4 tablespoons tapioca starch
• 2 tbsp. organic sugar
• pinch sea salt
• 2 large organic eggs
• 1  1/4 c. fresh milk (I used goat’s milk)
• 1 tsp. pure orange extract
• 1 tablespoon quality butter, melted
• additional butter for pan as you make the crepes

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, extract and melted butter and whisk thoroughly until batter is smooth. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for two hours. (Note: I didn’t WANT to wait, but I could imagine that the two hours helped to soften the millet flour granules and everything to meld together…and it did.) Bring back to room temperature, whisking well again before using.

In a crepe, or non-stick pan, melt 1/2 teaspoon butter over medium heat. When pan is hot, pour just enough batter to cover the bottom, about 1/4 cup with an eight inch pan, for a six inch, about three tablespoons less. The thinner the crepe, the better! Swirl quickly to coat the bottom of the pan, and cook until you see bubbles forming, and the edges of the crepe lightly browning, about 2 minutes. Flip the crepe with a spatula (the crepes perform beautifully in the flipping process!) Cook another minute or so more. Keep the crepes warm if you’re serving immediately by covering them as you transfer from the pan. Repeat this process until you run out of batter, adding the small dab of butter to the pan for each crepe. They keep beautifully overnight. You could also freeze them with squares of waxed or parchment paper in between, in an air-tight bag.

The “very French” task of crepe making

flipped

finished crepes …

To plate the desserts, spoon maple sweetened goat’s milk yogurt down the center of an open, flat crepe, then fold. Add another crepe to the plate if desired, and fill as with the first, lightly stacking. Drizzle a little more yogurt over the top, and scatter generously with the maple sugared violets. If you like, sprinkle a bit of the left over sugar from violet sugaring over the top. Serve scrumptiously with a smile.

Crepes of course do very well with a multitude of fillings. This morning for breakfast I had a warmed crepe with a few spoonfuls of my Amaretto pear preserves from last fall….

Wishing you a fantastic spring day – at some point around the table, with love on your plate…and in your heart.