French pancakes or crepes

Cooking made easy – French pancakes or crepes

Crepes are no harder than American pancakes to make. They tend to be lighter than American pancakes, and are usually served as a meal on their own as opposed to an accompaniment to eggs, bacon, sausages etc. Crepes are not just a breakfast food either, they can be served at any time if the day and either made savory or sweet. This particular batch was served for breakfast with either sugar, lemon juice and butter in the English fashion, or with butter and strawberry jam the French way. If you prefer a savory version, they can be served with melted cheese and ham, or cheese and an egg or pretty much however you would like. One of my favorites is to serve them with a Bolognese sauce, rolled up like a burrito. In this case, it is traditional to serve savory crepes as an entrée and then sweet crepes as a dessert after wards.

There are so many ways of serving crepes, but the basic recipe is the same, only the ingredients for the topping change. Here are a few suggestions, but feel free to make up your own dependent on your and your family’s taste preferences:

Sweet toppings:

• Butter, lemon juice and sugar.
• Butter and jam or jelly.
• Nutella.
• Butter, sugar and fried bananas.
• Butter, fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Savory toppings:

• Bolognese sauce.
• Melted cheese and bacon.
• Shredded beef or pork with BBQ sauce.
• Smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers.

Just a few ideas. Crepes are easy and quick to make. Serves 2. You will need:

Equipment

• 2 bowls
• A whisk
• A skillet or crepe pan
• A spatula

I don't usually push a particular product, but Calphalon make awesome crepe pans and definiteley worth the money.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 2 egg
• 1 cup milk
• Salt
• Butter

This will make approximately 4 crepes, for larger servings, simply multiply the ingredients accordingly. i.e for 8 crepes, double the ingredients.

The secret to light, fluffy crepes is to separate the eggs and whisk the white. Not many people seem to know this but it makes a huge difference. If you have tried crepes before and found them difficult, try this and taste the difference.

First, put the flour in a bowl. Break the eggs, separate the whites into another bowl and add the yolks to the flour. Whisk the whites until they are frothy. Mix the yolks into the flour and add the milk slowly, whisking all the time. Add a pinch of salt. Add the whisked whites and whisk the mixture. There should be no lumps, but if you have messed up, don’t worry, it’s savable by putting the mixture in a food processor or blender. Sort of cheating, but why not?

Add a large knob of butter to the skillet and heat on a medium heat. When the butter is melted, pour it into the crepe mixture and stir. Now, add some more butter to the pan, melt and pour some of the mixture in. The mixture should only just cover the bottom of the pan.

Cook quickly, and when the mixture goes hard, the crepe will be ready to turn. Use the spatula to turn the crepe and cook the other side, They take just a few minutes to cook. Place the crepe on a plate and serve with whatever topping you have decided on.

Bon Apetit !