Sweet Crepes: An Easy French Delicacy
September 07, 2009 | By
Few dishes are as versatile, easy to prepare, and work so well at impressing dinner guests than crêpes. Originally from Brittany, a small northwestern region of France, the crêpe is now served around the world and is considered a national dish in France.
Growing up, crêpes were often served as Sunday morning brunch in my house and to this day, nothing satisfies my appetite for French cooking quite the way crêpes can.
Versatile and Delicious Meals
There are two basic crêpe recipes: a sweet and a savory. Sweet crêpes are made of wheat flour and the batter is lightly sweetened. Savory crêpes are typically made from buckwheat flour and are not sweetened. Buckwheat flour imparts a stronger flavor that complements savory dishes very well.
Beyond the basic two types, we find a myriad of possibilities, limited only by one’s imagination. Served with jam, maple syrup or fresh fruit, they make an excellent breakfast. Add a bit of whipped cream, ice cream or flambé them in liquor to get an exquisite dessert. Ham, asparagus, cheese, béchamel sauce, crumbled sausages, mushrooms, spinach, chicken; these are all common ingredients used to prepare various combinations of delectable fillings for savory crêpes.
Basic Sweet Crêpe Recipe
Here is the recipe for basic sweet crêpes, straight from my mother’s hand-written cookbook. To make savory crêpes, just skip the sugar and vanilla.
Ingredients:
4 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of water
2 teaspoons of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Directions:
Measure all ingredients directly into a blender in the order listed. Blend for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend for an additional 15 - 20 seconds. The batter should be smooth and homogenous. Refrigerate for 1 hour in blender jar. This waiting period gives the flour more time to absorb the liquid, which will in turn produce the desired texture of the finished crêpe, which should be very thin, chewy, and crispy around the edges.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. A tiny dollop of butter or margarine in the pan helps impart flavor and texture to the crêpes. Once the pan is very hot, quickly dispense 1/4 cup of batter from blender jar and begin spreading batter out by tilting pan around and around until batter stops spreading. If too much butter is used in the pan, or if pan is not hot enough, the batter will not spread properly.
Once the edges start curling up, the crêpe is ready to be flipped. Cooking on the second side should take no longer than 20 seconds to finish it off, as the crêpe is already mostly cooked by the time it is flipped.
Keep the crêpe warm in a 200 F oven covered with a clean, moist towel while you cook up the entire batch. This helps keep the crêpes warm, but more importantly, soft and supple, which is important when it come time to fill and roll them later on.
Crêpes are best served within 30 minutes of cooking but will keep refrigerated for 2 - 3 days. All you need are 30 seconds in the microwave to bring them back to life.
Yields 12 - 14 crêpes.
Caramel Sautéed Apples Filling
Here is my personal contribution to the world of crêpe fillings:
Core, peel, and thinly slice 4 cooking apples. Sauté on high heat with 1/4 cup of butter until lightly browned. Reduce heat and add 1/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon to taste. Cook over medium-high heat until sauce reduces to a thick caramel and apples are soft.
Fill crêpes with a combination of the hot apple filling and vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Roll or fold crêpe over and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and a bit of left over sauce. Enjoy!
More French Cooking:
Julie and Julia: Stirring Up Gnocchi Gratinés au Fromage
The Crafty Kitchen: Using Fresh Eggs
Coming Soon in Just for Fun: Savory Crêpes for all Occasions!
Photos courtesy of foodistablog, jibartos, and Gold Star Flours.
<--- Go back to the Just for Fun department for more crafty fun!
Sophie Routhier is inspired by the beauty of nature. Take a stroll through her French beaded flower garden at JardinDeSophie and see for yourself how beads come to life.
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