Crêpes are so exotic! Yet, they are very easy to cook, and you will make magical memories for family and friends. Crêpes can be a meal, a dessert, sweet or savory served at any day part. They are a quick, light meal that looks and tastes decadent.
Grab that non-stick pan you used for making your easy, delicious Julia Child omelettes, and you will be the hero of the kitchen in no time.
As Julia reminded us in the video I posted on her Queen of Sheba cake, the first step we all need to do is read the recipe. Even with her expertise and years of cooking, she understood how so many cooks think they remember the recipe from repetition. We don't. Take a moment to review the recipe to ensure you have all the ingredients.
Crêpes a la Donna (as pictured here from my time in Provence) makes about 6 - 8 inch can double for more
Ingredients:
(Important - combine, not whip, by hand in non-metal bowel and let rest on counter for 30 minutes before cooking. Should be the consistency of heavy cream not pancake batter.)
2 eggs
2/3 of a cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
Method:
After resting batter for 30 minutes, prep a non-stick pan on stove over medium heat.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in pan and wipe excess butter out with paper towel (save that towel for wiping pan after each crêpe). You don't want visible butter in the pan just a coating.
Ladle batter quickly into pan just enough to make a thin crêpe.
Quickly swish the batter around the pan to make an even circle.
Leave undisturbed until you see edges begin to brown and center firm up.
Using your fingers or the edge of a spatula, turn the crêpe over to lightly brown the other side.
Remove to cooling plate before filling.
Take the paper towel with excess butter and wipe the pan before making the next crêpe.
Like pancakes, the first crêpe will not be as pretty as the rest so don't get discouraged.
You can make a batch of crêpes ahead of time and freeze them with a layer of saran wrap in between each one and zip lock.
The photo below has Nutella spread lightly on the inside and outside. For savory suggestions mushrooms and cheese are perfect. Other toppings and fillings are plain sugar with fresh lemon or orange squeezed lightly. You can add any fruit such as strawberries, bananas, blueberries, peaches or plums. If you use apples or pears, you should peel and soften them by heating in a pan with a bit of sweetener for a few minutes.
To serve, fold into a quarter circle and add a sprinkle of powder sugar as the final magic dust.
Crêpes Fitzgerald from Brennan's New Orleans Cookbook, told by Hermann B. Deutsch, 1964, New Orleans, page 211.
2 crêpes
2 heaping teaspoons cream cheese
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 cup strawberries
sugar
butter
strawberry liqueur
kirsch
Roll cream cheese and sour cream in crêpes and put on plate. In a chaffing dish, cook strawberries in sugar and butter. Flame in strawberry liqueur and kirsch and pour over crêpes. 1 serving.
Donna's Note: above flaming technique not for the faint of heart take precautions or omit by just heating the liqueurs in pan to release some of the alcohol.
Bon Appétit!
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| My perfect crêpe served at a café in Antibes, France |
