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Basic Crepes

Written by Translator on May 10, 2008 – 6:04 pm -

Crepes are wonders for a multitude of dishes. I like to eat them plain, too, with coffee or milk. They are easy to make, but are one of the few things that I cook using exact measurements. If the proportions are wrong, they are either too tough or too cakelike, so follow the recipe closely.

Here is it:

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (unbleached preferred, but bleached OK. Do not use whole wheat)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk (whole is better for this recipe, but 2% or skim may be used with a little degradation of the crepes)

2 tablespoons oil (use a very bland one, like soy)

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2 cups of milk (amount varies depending on the flour)

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. I like to use extremely fine salt (the kind the McDonald’s has in the little paper packages is great). Stir in the 1/2 cup milk. The mixture will be very stiff. Add the oil and the eggs and egg yolks, stirring well. A food processor is fine for this, but try not to whip in too much air.

Now here is the secret for good crepes. Let this batter rest as long as you can. I like to make it the night before I cook the crepes, then cover it and refrigerate overnight. Two hours of rest is the absolute minimum. If you do not let it rest, your batter will be lumpy.

After the rest, add more milk, a little at a time, while stirring constantly or pulsing with the food processor. Keep adding milk until the batter resembles heavy cream. Make sure that there are no lumps either by fishing them out or crushing them with a spoon. Once again, if using a food processor, try not to beat in too much air.

Cooking them is a trick that I have developed over many batches, and this works well. As a matter of fact, it is only application that I have for my six inch PTFE (Teflon) coated little skillet. Heat the skillet until a drop of water just begins to dance. In the meantime, take two small plates and invert them near the range, and take a cookie sheet and lay down a sheet of waxed paper on it.

When the skillet is hot, take a paper towel wetted with oil and coat the bottom thinly. Then take 2 tablespoons of batter and add to the skillet as evenly as possible. You have to work fast. If there is a hole here and there, you can either put a drop or two of batter there or ignore it.

Watch like a hawk until bubbles begin to form. These are not the little, collapsing ones like in pancakes, these more resemble blisters on your hands after using an ax for a couple of hours. Also watch for the top of the crepe to lose its sheen. When it becomes dull, take a cake icing spatula and flip the crepe and cook the other side.

Ideally, the first side will be a pretty, golden brown color. If it is too dark, reduce the heat a bit. If too light, increase it a bit. After many, many batches, I still have to make some adjustments during the first few, so do not be discouraged. When this side is done, take the skillet to the first inverted plate and drop the crepe onto it. Please note that the side showing will now be the “ugly” side, so when you fill and roll the crepes make sure to put the “pretty” (that is, the first side cooked) on the outside.

Wipe the skillet with the oiled paper towel and repeat. Whilst the second side cooks, move the crepe on the first inverted plate to the second one, turning it over in the process. Drop the second crepe on the now free first inverted plate and make a new one. While it cooks, take the crepe from the second plate and put on the waxed paper on the cookie sheet and move the crepe on the first plate to the second one.

Basically, this is an assembly line. If you have a helper to move the cooked crepes hither and thither, it is easier, but I have made lots of batches alone. The idea is to keep it going when the temperature of the skillet is optimal. If you spoil any (the most common way to do that is to fold the uncooked top onto itself while turning), just put them on a holding plate. I eat them as I cook the rest. I have never made a batch that I did not spoil at least one. If you get your rhythm, the crepes going onto the cookie sheet will be just about cooled. You can overlap them by about half without them sticking, and they will finish cooling then. If you put them into a tall stack I can not be responsible for what happens whilst they are warm, but you can bag them in a stack and refrigerate for several days after they cool. I have never tried to freeze them, so I do not know how well that would work.

While easier to do than it sounds, expect burnt and raw ones the first time or two that you make them. That is OK. After a couple of tries, you will be making perfect ones almost all of the time. I will say that this is one the most demanding things to cook, because the difference between raw and burnt can be mere seconds, so complete attention has to be maintained. It is better to have the drink after they are done, and ignore the telephone if it rings whilst you are cooking them. You get into a “sweet spot” where the combination of skillet temperature, rate of production, and inspiration come into an equilibrium, so do not disrupt that.

In a future post I will suggest some fillings for crepes. They are very versatile, equally good with sweet and with savory innards. As always, comments, questions, and darts are welcome. Warmest regards, Doc.

Tags: Crepes, Food
Posted in Diaries, Recipes |