Crêpes

It is a matter of points of view: in the US, crêpes are considered as thin, unleavened pancakes. In France, pancakes are considered as leavened crêpes.

These two products have a lot in common and probably the same origin, but be sure that in Europe, crêpes are much more widespread (and in particular, the French don’t care at all about pancakes!).

Unlike pancakes, crêpes are not eaten as is, but are usually filled and garnished with fruits and creams/sauces.

A nice advantage of crêpes is that they can be prepared in advance and reheated as needed (and they are also very easy to make!).

Crêpes

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Ingredients

165g	All-purpose flour
330ml	Milk (room temperature)
15g	Granulated sugar
2	Eggs (room temperature)
30g	Butter
1 pinch	Salt

Directions

Melt the butter on low heat and set aside

Sift the flour in a bowl, making a hole in the middle

Add the eggs in the hole with sugar and salt and start whisking these ingredients together with a whip without incorporating the flour

Start incorporating the flour and add some milk when the batter starts to thicken

Keep adding milk gradually

Mix until you obtain a liquid batter and make sure it is lump-free

Strain the batter into another bowl to remove any lumps (Exactly, I don't trust you!)

Add the melted butter

Just to be sure, strain it again...

Now that you have the final batter, chill for at least half an hour

With a ladle, pour the necessary batter for one crêpe in one time. Turn the pan to cover its entire surface.

Cook for about 2 minutes, then flip the crêpe with a spatula

Cook one or two minutes more until the crêpe gets its characteristic colour... et voilà, it's ready!

Note

Adding the milk too fast could create lumps, while adding it too late could develop the gluten too much and make the batter elastic.

Avoid using too much sugar in the batter, because it will caramelise quickly in the pan, making the crêpe sticky.

If ingredients are cold, the melted butter will solidify immediately, so it is advisable to strain the batter afterwards.

Lightly butter the pan before each crêpe (unless you are using a nonstick pan).

You can store the cooked crêpes one on top of the other (with the last cooked side facing up: this will help you separate them easily when you're ready to reheat them). Cover with a plate or aluminium foil to prevent them from drying out.

If you want to look cool, it is mandatory to flip the crêpe by throwing it in the air from the pan. 🙂