Crêpes, Crêpes, Crêpes, Crêpes, Crêpes, Crêpes, Crêpes, Crêpes! (In my singing voice)

Phewwww, trying say that 10 times fast… 🙂

Crêpes are thin-like pancakes that can be stuffed with sweet or savory fillings.  Living in France years ago a good friend of the family would make crêpes for us whenever we asked.  I remember how easy she used to make it seem and how delicious they were.  A big plate full of nutella and banana crêpes would line the table and us children and adults would literally run each other over just to get to one first.  That sparked the beginning of my love affair with crêpes.

Now you can kind of say that I have become a crêpe master, well not a master–per sey— but I definitely have the scars and bruises to show how to make crêpes.  You see in case you forgot, I used to own a crêpe restaurant, Crêpe Royale, with my sister and family a few years ago and I would make an absurd amount of crêpes up to the point where I would have dreams/nightmares of making crêpes and its batter.

Now fast track to today…  I hadn’t made a crêpe since we closed the restaurant over a year ago and I felt nostalgic and really hungry for one.

I think so many are afraid of making crêpes because they don’t really know how to make them.  So here is a crash course in crêpe making–and oh don’t get frustrated if you mess up of the first couple dozens— just sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on them and keep it moving.  Let’s just say that the mess ups were the best part. 🙂

Remember practice makes perfect!

Now let’s get to the crêpe making process:

Mixing Time:  Sift together the flour, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together until smooth the eggs, milk and water and pour the mixture into the dry ingredients. Whisk until you get a smooth batter. Stir in the melted butter, cover and let the batter rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour or more.  **You can choose to pulse everything in a blender for a smoother consistency but it’s your choice.**

Batter Time:  Using a nonstick skillet or a crêpe pan is your best choice. Choose a pan that is 8 inches in diameter, but depending on how big you would like your crêpes you can use bigger.  Place the pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium heat, allow the  entire pan to get hot.  **I like to spray my nonstick skillet first and then each time when making the crêpes I lightly brush vegetable oil in the pan.**

Spreading Time:  Ladle about 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan. Using too much batter will result in thick crêpes, and we aren’t making pancakes, so the thinner the better. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup for my ladling, it worked the best.

Swirl Time:  Lift the pan and move your hand in a circular motion to swirl the batter form the center of the pan around the sides.  you want to  make sure the batter fully coats the entire bottom of the pan in one thin layer.  For me I found that I had to work fast with the swirling motion each time so the batter doesn’t clump up in the center of the pan.  You can always add a bit more batter if you need it, just make sure to continue with a thin even layer.

Cooking Time:  Set the pan back on the stove and let the crêpe cook until the top is just a bit soft but firm and the edges pull away from the sides–just like pancakes.  A good test is when you lift the crêpe up you should see a fine lace pattern developing on the other side, now you can choose to brown it more or flip.  This process is very quick so your crêpe should be ready to flip after 45 seconds.

Flipping Time:  Now you can use a long spatula to lift the side of the crêpe gently and quickly.  I find that if you hold the crêpe to long and it has not set properly the crêpe will break in half.  Make sure to carefully flip the crêpe over to the other side. Just straighten out any folds and wrinkles in the crêpe so that it cooks evenly. This side only needs to cook for 20-30 seconds.

Serving Time:  Once the crêpe is finished cooking you should be able to just slide it off your pan onto a plate.  You can use your spatula to help you if needed.

Can be served sweet or savory…

Sweet Fillings:

• Strawberries
• Bananas
• Nutella
• Dulce de leche
• Whipped Cream
• Cinnamon Sugar
• Jams
• Peanut Butter

Savory Fillings:

• Scrambled Eggs
• Cheese
• Grilled Veggies
• Grilled Chicken
• Grilled Steak

Enjoy!

Quick Tips for Perfect Crêpes

1. You can use a blender to mix all of the ingredients to make sure that there are no lumps.  This really makes for a nice and smooth batter.
2. Make sure to let your batter rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or more, overnight works well also.  This will allow your batter to come together and allowing the gluten to develop.
3. Make sure to heat your pan evenly and brush your pan each time with vegetable oil.  This will allow your crêpes to flip and come off easily without sticking.
4. Do not become flip happy and try and flip before the time.  You want to make sure that the crêpe is cooked and coming off of the sides before flipping or you will have a mess on your hands.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:89]