Crêpes

I am not sure what the difference between a crêpe and a pancake but I think that crêpes are supposed to be thin and elastic contrary to pancakes which should be thick and fluffy.

Making crepes is not hard. If you can make pancakes, you can make crepes.

I don’t use a special crepe pan. I just use an ordinary non-stick frying pan. Actually I use two sizes. The small one is to make crepes which I roll in various ingredients such as ground meat or spinach etc. and have these as a meal.   For supper I usually make the big ones and add fruit, ice cream, chocolate, or savory ones with ham, bacon, mushrooms, etc.

Don’t worry if your first one doesn’t come out very thin or if it’s ruined. This can easily be fixed. I can’t give you the exact proportion as I don’t know how big your frying pan is but just add batter to cover the pan. So after the first one you can adjust the quantity of batter you will pour in the pan. Make sure that the pan is hot.

Now the problem is that by the time you finish the last one, the first one will be cold, so when serving family, on a busy night, it’s sometimes okay if they eat them as they are served. On the other hand if you are making crepes to serve friends that might be a problem. Place them in an oven proof plate and keep your oven barely warm and they’ll stay warm until you are ready to assemble them, or serve them as you make them.

Crêpes

The ingredients given below make about 8 big ones:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 cups milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Olive oil for frying  (1tablespoon per crepe)

Preparing batter:

Beat eggs with flour, add milk, baking powder and salt.

Frying:

Pour a tablespoon of oil in the pan and wait until it’s hot (this applies only to the first crepe because after that the frying pan is hot and you don’t have to wait).

Add a thin liquid batter with a cup onto the hot frying pan and tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Once it is no longer in a liquid form but is thick you must invert the crepe at least once, when you see that the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side.

How do you invert the crepe?

First by taking a spatula and turning it on the other side, or letting it slide into another plate and then taking the plate you put the uncooked side in the pan and third (only for experts) toss it in the air once so that it lands in the frying pan on the other side. Don’t try the third way because you must really be an expert to do that. If your frying pan is small, turn it with the spatula. If your pan is big use a plate because however expert you are the Crêpe is bound to break.

Serve hot with your favourite ingredients.

Ingredients you may use for your Crepes:

Savory crepes:

Ham, bacon, smoked turkey, cheese, mushrooms, peppers, fresh cream

Sweet crepes:

Ice cream, nutella, chocolate, dulce de leche, whipping cream, biscuits, spoon sweets, fruit preserves, coconut, nuts, bananas, strawberries, apples, etc.

Syrups:

Chocolate, strawberry, sour cherry, caramel, maple syrup, honey etc.

Tags: Batter, Crêpes, French, Pancakes