How to Set Up a Crepe Bar by Erica

Are you searching for an impressive Mother’s Day brunch idea? Well, stop right here. I’ve got the perfect solution for you: A crepe bar!

Crepes are fun in and of themselves. But when you add the excitement of being able to mix and match the fillings to your heart’s content, your friends and family will be giddy when they see your setup. It will bring out the inner child in them.

Let me show you some tips and tricks to successfully hosting your own crepe bar!

 
 

The crepes:

 
I think it’s a good idea to make neutral-flavored crepes for a crepe bar since you’ll have a wide variety of topping options. I’ve included a basic vanilla crepe recipe at the bottom of this post.

If you’re more careful and selective with your filling options, you could go for a flavored crepe, such as chocolate or lemon. You can even do savory crepes if sweets aren’t your favorite for breakfast!

The crepes are really the most sublime if you make them the same day you serve them. You can keep your stack warm in a 200ºF oven until ready to serve. Or you can make them up a day or so before and just warm them back up in the oven. Again, they won’t be quite as good, but still delicious!

Here are some ideas for filling and topping those lovely crepes.

 
 

Fruit:

 
Crepes + fruit is always a winning combination. Berries do really well since they’re soft and fit into the crepes easily. Bananas are a favorite with my kids. You could use soft stone fruit in the summer, stew apples and pears in the fall, and use pomegranates and citrus in the winter.

 
 

Fillings:

 
I think crepes need some kind of “glue” to hold them all together and make the individual ingredients cohesive. Cream cheese whipped cream, ricotta, chocolate hazelnut spread, pudding, and lemon curd are a few ideas.

 
 

Toppings:

 
A crunch factor is another great option to have. I used toasted coconut and sliced almonds for my crepe bar, but you could also do any other kind of nut, granola, chia seeds, or even cacao nibs.

 
 

Here’s a complete list of all the fillings/toppings I used:

blueberries
strawberries
raspberries
bananas
cream cheese whipped cream
lemon curd
chocolate hazelnut spread
toasted coconut
toasted almonds

 
 

Here is my suggested timeline of preparing a crepe bar with as little fuss as possible on the day you host it:

2 days before:
Make the lemon curd
Toast the nuts and coconut.

1 day before:
Make the crepes.
Make the cream cheese whipped cream.

The day of:
Wash and cut the fruit.
Warm the crepes in the oven.
Put everything in serving bowls and call your guests in!

 
 

Possible combinations:

 
My personal favorite of the combinations that I tried was chocolate hazelnut spread, raspberries, almonds, and cream cheese whipped cream. So good!

I also tried blueberries, lemon curd, and cream cheese whipped cream, because it seemed an obvious combo!

You could also do banana + coconut + chocolate spread. Yum! There are many possibilities.

 
 

I hope this inspired you to host a crepe bar yourself. It’s really fun to put together!

My kids and nieces and nephew loved this crepe bar. They were thrilled to get to create their own crepe (with adult supervision, of course). Some of their combos were a bit puzzling, but they were happy.

Make sure to share your personal favorite crepe fillings/toppings in the comments so we can all get some new ideas!