35mm Film Inspired Crepe Cake and Why You Should Always Buy Butter

If I were a Pinterest food blogger, this would be the part where I’d go into a lengthy anecdote about why this dish is important to me or how it impacted my life before finally divulging the recipe. You’d have to scroll through paragraph after paragraph of text before getting to the few key lines of directions that are really all you came to the page for in the first place.

But, as I’m a photographer and I didn’t use any recipes anyways, all you get here are the anecdotes!

Food photography was the very first non-portrait genre I was interested in over a decade ago. Having the studio has allowed me to renew my love of this particular art as I finally have a naturally-lit space filled with styling products dedicated to photography, without having to worry about moving around a tiny kitchen. As I grow my styling supplies and my client list, I’ve been practicing my food styling so that it becomes second nature to compose a food portrait to be both appetizing and eye-catching. And, really, what better way to practice than by making dishes that I’ve been drooling over for years but never had an occasion to make!

Earlier this week - the first Monday with good weather we’ve had in months - I decided to take a slow, creative morning to develop my waiting roll of color film. Ektachrome 100 is a re-released specialty slide film that sells for $15 a roll - typically I stick with film stocks more in the $5 range - so I’ve been hoarding this roll for almost a year. In planning for my day trip last month, I knew downtown Charleston with its rainbow buildings and ocean views would be perfect. I lucked out even more when we had cloudy skies because all of that gray turned to a dreamy purple due to this film stock’s emulsion.

As I pulled the developed roll out of the canister, examining the frames and quite literally squealing in excitement, I suddenly thought of berries. It naturally followed that the yellow hues made me think of lemons. And thus, with this errant thought suddenly making me hungry, my crepe-sterpiece idea was born (inspired primarily by the last photo above.) Who knew that a roll of cellulose acetate smelling astringently of chemicals would inspire such a delicacy?

Part of the allure of the crepe cake was that with its basic ingredients, I had everything I needed already, except the lemons. Unfortunately, Lowe’s is right beside my Ingles, and it was so nice out that I just couldn’t help but stop to look at the starter plants. I shouldn’t be allowed in the garden section by myself around planting time. Emerging a few dollars poorer but several flowers richer, I quickly rushed through the grocery, forgetting that I was about to use the rest of the butter. This will be important later.

When I got home, I started the lemon curd creme filling in the mixer while I planted the new flowers. In keeping with the color theme I’d purchased violets and daffodils to brighten up the front yard. I then started simmering the berry compote, whipped up the cream so the cats could each have a spoonful before I used it (they’re not spoiled, I swear), and began the arduous task of baking the crepes one-by-one.

The great thing about this slow process was that it allowed me to play with my scene until I’d styled it just how I wanted it. The bad thing is that once I realized I needed to make a second batch of crepe batter which required running to the store for more butter, I’d completely forgotten about my 5pm consultation call until all of a sudden one of my middle layers began to slide. And then, naturally, the phone rang.

Once I finished the consult I was running out of light, so I only had a few minutes to pour (and arrange) the compote, photograph the layers, and take a few detail shots. A time crunch means no room for delicacy, so I found myself digging into the cream filled layers to make sure they didn’t succumb to gravity, reaching into the berry jam to drip it exactly where I wanted it, and then getting the sweet mess on my camera grip once I’d perfected the dish. And this is why I’m a photographer and not a chef!

All in all, I learned a lot about food photography just from this one dish, and I’ve secondarily benefitted by enjoying a piece every evening on the porch. But, really, my biggest takeaway from the day is that when I allow myself the time to be fully creative, the colors of a roll of film taken in a specifically chosen location can inspire both a gardenscape and a dessert, all of which produce more happiness.