Crepes are a popular part of French cuisine, usually rolled around savory fillings, but can also be served with sweet fillings. Making crepes is easy with a basic batter recipe of eggs, flour, milk, and butter, and cooking them on a skillet with oil or butter. Crepes can be filled with a variety of ingredients, including fresh fruit, chocolate, vegetables, and seafood.
Crepes are thin pancakes that are a popular part of traditional French cuisine. In France, crepes are usually rolled around a savory filling and served as a snack, but can also be served with sweet fillings if desired. While many people associate crepes with gourmet cooking and think it’s hard to make crepes, this dish is actually a no-brainer and can be a big hit.
A basic crepe batter recipe starts with beating four eggs and whisking in a pinch of salt and two cups (256 grams) of flour. The mixture should be thick and lumpy at this stage. Once the ingredients are blended, you can slowly pour in two quart cups (533 milliliters) of milk to make a smooth batter. Finally, a quarter cup (57 grams or half a stick) of cooled, melted butter should be whisked in and the mixture should be allowed to settle.
This batter can be made up to a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator. The ingredients may separate somewhat while the batter is resting, but they can be mixed quickly to create a smooth mixture. This crepe batter may feel a little watery compared to the pancake batters some people may be used to, but watery is the goal, because the best crepes are very thin.
After the batter has rested for at least two hours, it’s time to heat a skillet or crepe pan and add a thin layer of oil or butter. Getting the heat right can be tricky, as the goal is to have the heat high enough to cook the batter, without burning the crepes. A setting close to medium is usually appropriate, although this may require some adjustment. When the pan feels hot enough, squirt a few drops of water into them—if they sizzle and steam, it’s time to cook the crepes.
The batter should be ladled into the pan as the pan is swirled so that the batter coats it. As the crepe cooks in the pan, the top will begin to bubble and firm up. Once the batter is snug across the pan, the crepe can be flipped to cook the other side. The finished crepes can be stacked on a pan in a hot oven and held until the batch is finished so everyone can either eat immediately or serve immediately, depending on personal tastes.
Flipping crepes can be tough. Some people develop a handy method that involves tearing the pan loose to loosen the crepe and flipping it, but it’s easy to screw up doing this. It’s perfectly acceptable to use a spatula to gently loosen and flip the crepe. Cooks should also be aware that even the pros mess up some crepes, especially the first one, so if the first crepe out of the pan looks like a total mess, that’s no cause for concern.
Some ideas for crepe fillings include: fresh fruit and cream, chocolate spreads, peanut butter, roasted vegetables, pates, roasts, shredded cheese, creamy seafood, green salads, and applesauce.
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