Crepes 101

Somehow, crepes have gotten a bum rap. I don't know why, they are really quite simple. I often whip out my crepe pan when I'm in the mood for a snack; I like them straight out of the pan. In fact, I like them so much, that I often find it difficult to amass enough completed crepes to be able to make anything with them! Which, incidentally, is the same reason there is not a photo of the crepes here... I ate them all before I could get a picture! Oops. Sometimes I just can't help myself. (I finally made crepes and remembered to take a photo to add to this post! -May 2012)

So, what is the trickiest part about making crepes? If there is anything, it must be putting the batter in the pan. Because the pan is already hot, the batter starts cooking immediately upon hitting it, so you need to shake that pan around to get the batter spread out. Oh, and that whole letting the batter sit thing, that's completely optional. While it does make a slight difference, I find the crepes are still fantastic when made right away. Who has time to wait for crepe batter?

This recipe can very easily be doubled or halved, depending on your needs. If you want to make sweet crepes, just add a tablespoon of sugar to the batter. Personally, even when using them for dessert applications, I still prefer to use a batter without sugar. In the future, I'll post some recipes using crepes.

Basic Crepes
Yield: 7-9 crepes

2 eggs
1 TBS melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup lukewarm milk

Whisk all ingredients together. If it seems lumpy, you can always run it through a sieve to make a nice, smooth batter. While you can use milk right from the refrigerator, the butter tends to clump up with the cold milk. You can leave the batter to sit in a covered bowl for an hour before use or use right away.

Preheat an 8-10 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Put a tiny amount of butter in the pan, maybe 1/4 tsp. Let the butter melt and then use a paper towel to wipe over entire pan surface. Use a small measuring cup to pour a measured amount of batter into the pan. With a 10 inch skillet, I use about 3 TBS of batter. This means using a 1/4 cup measure filled about 3/4 of the way full. Pour batter into pan and immediately start shaking pan around to get batter distributed (see video below). Place back on heat. Within a minute or so, the edges will start to brown and peel back from the side of the pan. This tells you the crepe is about done. Remove when crepe has reached desired shade of browning. With thin crepes, there is no need to flip the crepe and cook the other side. Remove crepe on to a paper towel. Crepes can be kept warm until use in a very low oven.