Crepas de Cajeta Made Easy

My husband, my girl and I all have a very sweet tooth.  Our weekend breakfasts usually consist of pancakes, waffles or crepes that my girl and I make together.  It’s become a bit of a special routine.  The one thing that is always present in our sweet breakfasts, thanks to my husband’s obsession with it, is Mexican cajeta; similar to dulce de leche, but made with goat’s milk instead of cow’s milk.  I’m sure when my daughter is older and away from home, she will feel nostalgia for cajeta since it’s such a part of her life.  Our favorite way to eat it is inside a freshly made crepe stuffed with strawberries.

Since I like to keep it simple and easy when I cook, I use whole wheat or buttermilk pancake mixes to make crepes.  All you have to do is add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more water to the mix to thin it out and you will get crepes.  I also make sure I keep a can of PAM cooking spray in the Butter flavor because it is the best way I’ve found to grease the pan for an even and good-tasting crepe.  Crepes need to cook at a heat of 400 or above, so butter usually burns up too quickly and chars the crepe.  Oil just makes a huge mess because of the high heat and doesn’t taste as good as  butter does for crepes.  A quick spray of PAM Butter greases it just fine and is easy to use.

Here’s how Camila and I make our favorite Crepas de Cajeta with Strawberries together:

Ingredients

• Your preferred pancake mix + ingredients requested on their instructions (most likely one egg and water)
• PAM cooking spray in Butter flavor
• Cajeta to taste.  You can find it at most large supermarkets in the Latin foods section, or make it yourself.  You can also substitute it with dulce de leche (my husband wouldn’t go for that one!)
• Fresh strawberries
• A dash of milk

To Make

Prepare the crepe mix as indicated on the box, but add 1/4-1/2 cup more water to thin out the mix;  it should be smooth and liquid.

The size of your crepes will depend on the size of the pan you use.

Spray the pan evenly with a quick one-second shot of PAM Butter flavor spray and place it on the high heat setting. Ideally, it should be at around 400 degrees.

Using a ladel or a measuring cup, pour 1/4 of a cup (or less, depending on the size of your pan) to fill a large sauteé pan.  The trick to a good crepe is to swirl the mix around to cover the entire surface of the pan as soon as you pour it in.  Don’t worry if it’s not a perfect circle because it won’t be noticeable once the crepe is closed.

Heat on one side for about 30 seconds until the edges start to crisp. Flip to the other side until done.  Since they are thin, they are ready quickly.

Remove and place on a dish.  I suggest you make all the crepes before continuing onto the next steps.

One by one, grab the crepes and place in the middle 2-3 sliced strawberries and pour over them approximately 3 tablespoons of cajeta.  Fold from each side and place the folded ends underneath.

Place a small saucepan over medium heat and  pour a 1/4 cup of cajeta and a dash of milk.  Stir until dissolved to create a cajeta sauce to pour over the crepes.

While sharing this recipe with you, I’ve also given you a tip of how I use PAM cooking spray to help me make consistently great-tasting and good-looking crepes.  We invite you to also share your tips for how PAM Helps You Pull it Off and enter PAM’s Top Tips contest {Update: This contest is now closed} for a chance to win $5,000 cash, a dinner party with Venezuelan-native celebrity chef George Duran and more. All you have to do is go here and submit a video, photo or blog entry with your cooking, grilling or all-around creative household tip on how to use PAM.  ¡Buena Suerte!

Disclosure:  This post is part of a sponsored series to help promote PAM’s Top Tip Contest.  We also received PAM products and promotional material from ConAgra to assist in preparing the posts.  All opinions (and the cajeta love!) are all our own.