Crepes come in many flavors and styles, using a thin pancake-like batter with wheat, barley, buckwheat, or potato flour. Savory crepes use buckwheat and sweet crepes use wheat flour. The batter’s liquid content affects thickness, and different flours have unique thickening characteristics. Fillings and toppings are unlimited.
Crepes come in many flavors and styles and can be eaten as appetizers, side dishes, main courses or desserts. They use a thin pancake-like batter as the basis for all kinds of recipes. The most common component of crepe dough is wheat, although other types of crepe dough employ barley, buckwheat, or potato flour. The two general types of crepe dough are those that are used to wrap savory ingredients and those that are used with sweet components. Buckwheat is mostly used for savory crepes, and wheat flour is often used for sweet crepes.
The amount of liquid within the crepe batter is often adjusted to make the crepe thicker or thinner. Ideally, the crepe batter should pour like heavy cream. Typically milk or a mixture of milk and water is applied, but some recipes use cream or even beer for this process. Different flours have unique thickening characteristics, and the amount of moisture in the flour can affect how much liquid is needed.
The basic components of the savory dough are buckwheat, eggs, milk, water and butter, along with salt and sugar. Some savory crepe batter recipes even call for curry powder, gram flour, or whole wheat. Specialty flours, such as blue or chestnut cornmeal, are available in the main sections of many health food stores and help vary the taste of a savory crepe. A further distinction for buckwheat crepes is that they are gluten-free. Fresh herbs lend bright color and flavor to savory crepe batter.
The sweetest crepe dough uses the basic crepe base of wheat flour and adds eggs, milk or cream, sugar, vanilla extract, and butter. When making a sweet crepe, sprinkling powdered or granulated sugar into the batter while cooking is a tasty option that won’t interfere with the cooking process. A cook can further enhance sweet crepe batter by adding flavorings such as liqueurs, extracts, lemon juice, or fruit zest. Ground espresso beans and cocoa powder are also popular additions to dessert crepe batter.
Just as there are many versions of crepe, there are seemingly unlimited fillings and toppings to go in and on top of this delicious French pancake. Crepe dough is typically rested after preparation to allow the flour to expand in the batter and to relax the gluten, but the dough doesn’t need to be rested to make a successful crepe. The batter also keeps well in the refrigerator or freezer when sealed in an airtight container.
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