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Don't ask why it's called crepe samurai; we don't have an answer. Is it the paper-thin crepes, filled with fruit and rolled up into logs to resemble katana, as if the samurai sword resembled lumpia? Was this now-classic Filipino dessert first served at a Japanese restaurant, which decided to tack on "samurai" to keep the dish in theme? Who knows?
While most crepe samurai are mango-flavored, this recipe makes use of ube—lots of it. It's in the jammy filling and the purple crepes, baked in a not-ube cream so it emerges out of the oven all warm, gooey, and toasty. If you're feeling playful, imagine if you added cheese!
Ingredients
Ube Crepes
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup melted butter
- 2 tbsp ube flavoring
Ube Filling
- 2 cups ube jam
- 2 cups ube jam
Crepe Sauce
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups whipped cream
Make crepe batter: Combine eggs, flour, milk, water, melted butter, and ube flavoring in a blender. Blend until smooth and set aside to let rest, 30 minutes.
Make crepes: Heat a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Once warm, add ¼ cup of batter into the pan, swirling to coat the bottom in a thin, even layer. Cook until set, about 45 seconds to 1 minute; flip to cook the other side, about 30 seconds. Remove cooked crepe from pan. Repeat with remaining batter.
Prepare for baking: Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare a large baking dish.
Assemble crepes: Once crepes are cool enough to handle, plop about 2 tbsp of ube jam into the center of each piece. Fold the crepe up like a large lumpia. Repeat until all of the crepes are filled and rolled up. Fill the bottom of the baking dish with the rolled crepes, arranging them next to each other in snug rows.
Make crepe sauce: Combine egg yolks, powdered sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Whip, whether by hand or with an electric mixer, until mixture is thick and pale in color. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in whipped cream. Pour mixture over rolled crepes.
Bake and serve: Bake crepe samurai until top is set and has puffed up and browned, 10–15 minutes. Serve.
