The Elusive Crepe

11 years ago

My son asked for crepes this morning.

I have never made a crepe, but we do have a non-stick crepe pan for roesti duties, and how hard can it be? Any French girl and woman can make crepes, n'est ce pas?

I put milk, eggs, flour, butter and sugar in the blender, zinged it to a thin mixture, let the batter de-bubble for a while, melted a little butter in the heated pan, confidently poured a dollop of batter in the pan and began to swirl it with panache. What a disaster. Tried again, tweaking my process. More crumpled mush in the trash. And again.

Finally I was able to produce something round and untorn. It had the consistency of wet bread and the dimensions of a tortilla. From space, it might pass as a crepe. But even across the room, it looked readier for a burrito than for Nutella et banane.

My son ate it. Put Nutella and sliced banana on an old inner sole, and a hungry boy will eat it. But I wasn't proud.

What is the secret of a light, thin, lacey, authentic crepe?

Featured Answer

Lars

11 years ago

Galette and crepe do not have the same meanings in the U.S. as they do in France or Belgium, much as "biscuit" has different meanings in U.S. and U.K. and "pepperoni" has totally different meanings in English and Italian. You cannot force French definitions onto American words that have French origins but have already morphed into their own American versions and are now found in American dictionaries. In Latin America, the definition of "empanada" varies from country to country as well and even from region to region within Mexico. English dictionaries and American dictionaries are quite different, just as Mexican Spanish is different from Castillian and Creole French is different from Parisian French.

I like standardized definitions as much as anyone but have to accept that standards almost always change when borders are crossed. It's nice to know the history of words and the geographic origins, but the further you get from the geographic origin and the time of its origin, the more it is likely to have changed.

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Comments (78)

foodonastump
11 years ago
Islay - Well to further add to your grumpiness ;-) I'll point out that Julia Child's recipe calls for tilting to the pan to coat it, that the pan diameter is 6 1/2 inches, and that she recommends a cast iron frying pan if you don't have a French crepe pan.

I really don't see how size or method matter, as long as you end up with a nice, thin crepe and not a pancake.

Trailrunner, did you watch the video dcarch linked? That's entirely different from anything I see on either of your links, and I wasn't able to find anything close to it for sale on the internet. Not that it would be practical in any kitchen I know of, regardless of how much you love crepes!

Anyway, now I'm feeling the need to scout out someplace generally acknowledged to do crepes "right" to see if what I make is in the same ballpark.
momto4kids
11 years ago
Hold up, John...I wanna go! I'd have savory for sure...eggs and spinach. If the prosciutto is thin, thin, thin, I could tell myself it's bacon and have that and gruyere, hold the onions. Yumm! The roasted garlic chickpea spread sounds good, too...hold the onions. I don't know about the figs!
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triciae
11 years ago
Goat Fig Pig!

/tricia (who LOVES crepes)
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
The recipe, the ingredients, the temperature, the non-stick surface, the characteristics of the fire, the conductivity of the vessel, ------ all effect the thickness, the texture and the shape of your crepes. When all the above are optimized, it is possible to vary your personal preferences.

I made some this morning. Litterally thinner than paper. They were nice with persimmon/Meyer lemon sauce I made.

dcarch
John Liu
Original Author
11 years ago

This is the Chocolat crepe, as eaten by my son. We also had the Amandine, the Proscuitto, and the Prix Fixe savory style. Plus a Campari & orange juice on my part. Stumptown coffee, hot chocolate with toasted marshmallows.

It was damn good! My new favorite breakfast place.
User
11 years ago
dcarch..those are lovely.

whoa John...that is SOME breakfast...lucky you and son. I like a crepe to have some substance. That one in your pic looks terrific.

The automatic turntable that they use at the crepe place in NOLA is very similar to the one in the video. What is does is essentially the same...motor driven rotation and hot...smooth the batter out and scrape it and smooth and coat and fill and fold. It is wonderful to watch. Worth going out when you want some :) c
foodonastump
11 years ago
Ah ok, looked like a "regular" crepe maker. Next time I'm in NOLA....!
John Liu
Original Author
11 years ago
I am starting to realize there are all sorts of crepes.

The savory choices that we had were buckwheat crepes, that were relatively thick - about as thick as the ones I produced. The sweet choices used flour crepes, a little thinner but still, I'd say, a bit less than 1/8" - forgot the micrometer. In the past I've had the thin crepes, as dcarch showed, usually with very simple accoutrements and rolled. And browsing pictures of crepes indicates some people like them uniform, and others like lots of browning color.

I am not sure what kind of crepe I want to learn to make. Probably a gluten-free, thin crepe, with a fair bit of color.

Next time I'm at Suzette's, I will try her gluten free crepes.

This post was edited by johnliu on Mon, Feb 18, 13 at 0:05
annie1992
11 years ago
Oh geez, it would have to be the chocolat crepe, with homemade nutella and hazelnuts, but a close second would be the Amandine with the pears, I love pears.

Annie
Islay_Corbel
11 years ago
Grump. Grump. Here it would be weird to have a savoury crepe. Savoury is like your restaurant - a buckwheat Galette. But, size is important!
Here is the home of the crepe and galette. Julia Childs was american. I would not refer to a french chef if I wanted to cook grits or fried chicken. :-) grump grump :-) :-) :-) :-)
momto4kids
11 years ago
No Islay...you're not being a grump! I did not know the difference! My girls like the sweet fillings, so crepes it is. I always considered them more of a snack food. The girls want them as breakfast. While I like them with lemon and sugar, I'd rather have something savory if I'm having a "meal." Galettes for me! I do have buckwheat flour on hand. I'll have to give it some practice this week.
User
11 years ago
Islay, when we were in Burgundy we went to a small restaurant that specialized in crepes and galettes.

My daughter and her friend weren't sure about the buckwheat so the chef kindly offered to make a regular crepe with their savory filling. My husband and I went with the galette and we both loved it. Until then I had always made savory using a regular crepe recipe. Never again the buckwheat is so much more "substantial" and very flavorful.
foodonastump
11 years ago
LOL Islay!!! And interesting about the savory crepes.

So I went to see if I could find a Jacques Pepin video. Here is a short of him making crepes. I'd say the thickness and degree of browning is what I strive for when I make them.

If you like watching him as much as I do you might enjoy the full video. I see orange souffle crepes in my future!
mabeldingeldine_gw
11 years ago
Here in Maine, the French Canadian/Acadian families of northern Maine are known for thin buckwheat pancakes known as ployes. They are typically served for breakfast with cretons, a spicy pork meat spread, but leftover ployes are often served with later meals in place of bread.

All this discussion is making me think I'll have to try crepes this week while I'm on DIY vacation.
lpinkmountain
11 years ago
Crepes schmepes, give me a blintz any day! :)
User
11 years ago
We were visiting friends in Menton France years ago. We sat outside at a cafe on the water and had a delightful brunch. The staff was charmed by my then 7 yr old DD with her blond ringlets and blue eyes. They sent out paper thin crepes with ice cream and chocolate as a garnish. She still talks about it...she is 30 now :)

The crepes at the place in NOLA are made with the same batter whether you get savory or sweet. They are not paper thin and are served in a paper cone. They are so perfect and yum !! c
jimster
11 years ago
I hate to be grumpy but aren't the words French and American supposed to be capitalized? :-)

Jim
John Liu
Original Author
11 years ago
I liked the Pepin video.

Last summer in Tahoe, my friend made a mass quantity of crepes. She lives in Berkeley now, but remains resolutely French. I believe her process was rather like that shown in the video. A simple batter, prepared immediately before cooking, a battered non-stick saucepan, no special tools. And her crepes turned out much like Pepin's.
arley_gw
11 years ago
If you find that after mixing and resting your batter it is still a little thick, I have found that mixing in a tablespoon or two of brandy into the batter lightens the crepes considerably. Plus you get tiny little lacy holes in the edges.
Islay_Corbel
11 years ago
Jim, i hve a ltof trouble typngnonnthis tablet so capitals flynotnthe window:-) :-) :-) :-)
Islay_Corbel
11 years ago
foodie, I love watching Monseur Pepin - but what a terrible accent! One of the best tips ever was one of his for cooking chicken thighs. you cut the meat each side of the bone so the meat lies flat in the pan. Dcarch, yours look light and crisp but so thin the're lik leaves of Brick from North Africa. (Jim, note extra care on capitals)! I love brick........
wizardnm
11 years ago
I came across a blog by Michael Ruhlman and thought about this thread. He has very exact instructions for making crepes.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Michael Ruhlman Blog
arlinek
11 years ago
I make them all the time: savory and sweet. I use two pans and alternate one behind the other by 20 seconds so I always have two crepes cooking at once. By the time the first one is ready to flip, the 2nd one is almost finished and ready to be removed. I often have made 75+ for a party or to freeze the leftovers. For sweet, I always add a Tbl. of Gran Marnier. I use a Teflon pan (6") and a professional French 6" alum. pan (and cook NOTHING else in that one!) per the French chef I learned from. I do swirl the batter. The batter first rests for 30 min. and that's it. They should end up very tender and pliable - to me, Dcarch's are too thin and crackly looking (sorry there!) but he clearly used (at least it looks like it) the stick and circular spreader method. To make them thin, that's determined by how much batter is poured in the pan. It took several tries until I figured out exactly how much to pour in and then swirl it so it goes to the edges of the pan before the vertical part of the pan starts. I use a metal measurement cup or a ladle. The amount YOU will need will depend on the batter thickness and the size of the pan. I also stir the batter after every few crepes, also, to keep it mixed properly and uniform. I use a small silicone spatula to run around the edges of the crepe when it is ready for turning. I then can pick up the crepe and flip it with my hands. They are stacked one on top of the other with a square sheet of wax paper in between that I previously cut in half and tore so they are the exact same width of my crepes. The 2nd side is cooked much less than the first side.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
Ã¢ÂÂ-------They should end up very tender and pliable - to me, Dcarch's are too thin and crackly looking (sorry there!) but he clearly used (at least it looks like it) the stick and circular spreader method. To make them thin, that's determined by how much batter is poured in the pan.---Ã¢ÂÂ

That is a fair and accurate comment. What I made were not exactly crepes. They are to be used for other recipes, some kind of thin wraps. I made them to demonstrate that it is possible to make round crepes so thin that they are transparent, if you have all the factors optimized.

You can make nice crepes with no eggs, no butter, no milk, just flour and water. The most important factor which is seldom mentioned to achieve thin and round crepes, IMHO, is pan temperature.

I always start a pan that is not too hot, to give me plenty of time to spread the batter round and thin, then turn the fire hot to give the crepe a nice finish. When the pan gets too hot for the next one, I dip the bottom of the pan in water in a bigger pan next to the stove.

dcarch
gwlolo
11 years ago
Arline's- do you have a recipe to share for your batter?
loves2cook4six
11 years ago
I'm going to come back to this thread after I've had a chance to watch all the videos.

In the meantime, I make crepes every Sunday, my kids adore them. Without going into recipes and pans, we were in Paris last year and my kids said mine tasted better than any they had there. Must be the brandy that goes in the recipe. :)

Also, you never flip a crepe. Cooked on one side only or so my mom learned when she was at culinary school in France half a century ago. It's one of very few things she taught me.

When I first started cooking I had a crepe "maker". It was a non stick electric gadget that you plugged in and when the little green light came on, you dipped it in batter and it made a perfect crepe. You knew the crepe was ready when you flipped the maker over and the crepe just peeled/ fell right off.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
Paris, street food, winter, Christmas time.

"Marrons! Chauds, chauds les CrÃÂªpes ÃÂ la crÃÂ¨me de maroons!Ã¢ÂÂ

Those words send a frisson of delight up my spine. I would watch in rapt fascination as the vendor deftly fashioned his thin crepe with chestnut spread, in a cornet of wrapping paper and all in a twinkling of an eye, the BEST CREPES I had!

I gotta learn how to make crepes!!!

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Fri, Feb 22, 13 at 9:41
arlinek
11 years ago
GWlolo: Be happy to - I tend to put in a lot of details - this was previously written up by me for a Foodie Meetup group I organized.

Crepes:

CREPES - makes about 25 - 6" crepes
On any ingredient marked with a +, it means I've added a little bit more. Omit sugar if it's a savory crepe.

1-1/4 C. sifted AP flour
2 T. sugar +
1/2 tsp. salt +
3 eggs
3 C. Whole Milk
1/4 C. butter, melted
I always add a little Gran Marnier to the mixture, also - but it's optional (for the sweet ones, of course)

Tear off 13 sheets of wax paper about 6.5" wide and then cut them in half so you should have about 26 squares. Sift flour, sugar & salt in med. bowl. Add eggs, milk and butter & mix with a mixer till thoroughly combined. Let mixture REST for 30 min. on counter. Use a 6" (bottom measurement) Teflon (preferred) pan or a professional crepe pan, heated to medium. Preheat pan ... to "medium" . Use approx. 7/8 of a 2-oz. ladle full of batter and pour into center of pan. Swirl pan so batter has spread around entire bottom of pan, but not up the sides. Adjust heat as needed - 1st one often is not quite perfect (no butter needed in pan at all). I ALWAYS stir the batter in the bowl with the ladle just before I fill it up again to keep the mixture consistent. Using clean fingers or a wooden tong or a silicone spatula (my favorite tool to use for this), flip over crepe when it has a few light brown spots on it and cook 2nd side for less time than the first side. Don't overcook these or they'll be tough. Store crepes between sheets of wax paper, pretty side up with the brown spots on top. Refrigerate if not using within an hour or so. If packed tightly and most all air removed (Saran'ed and a Zip Lock bag), they can be frozen. Just thaw & use later.

arline
annie1992
11 years ago
Loves2cook4six, I had that same gadget! Now I have a "crepe pan" that goes on the stove top, shallow and wide and Teflon coated.

Annie
Islay_Corbel
11 years ago
A crepe cooked on one side. Nooooooooooooo. A restaurant bought by in-comers tried that - foul. Didn't last 5 minutes. I'm sorry, but that french cookery school can't have been Breton.:-) :-) :-)
My daughter'd best friend is a professional crepe and galette maker - she has one of those vans you find in the markets that sell these yummy things and she spent a lot of time perfecting the technique - cooked to perfection on both sides :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
gwlolo
11 years ago
Arline- thank you for such a detailed recipe. I love it when the recipes are detailed and precise. I will give this a whirl and post back.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
"A crepe cooked on one side. Nooooooooooooo.
----"

Jacques P makes them on both sides also.

dcarch
centralcacyclist
11 years ago
I've always used the recipe and directions for French pancakes from "Joy of Cooking" and they are tasty and not technically fussy. Shrug.

Eileen
momto4kids
11 years ago
The usual...
bbstx
11 years ago
The one time I made crepes, I followed Julia Child's recipe. I remember putting about 1/4 cup of batter in the skillet, swirling, and pouring out the batter that didn't stick to the pan. I thought they turned out very good, but I was young and my standards were low.
annie1992
11 years ago
Deb, those look delicious. All they need is a cup of coffee!

Here are the last crepes I made. Chocolate, stuffed with nutella and fresh strawberries, and topped with more strawberries and whipped cream. It was supposed to be breakfast, although it seemed a lot like dessert!

Annie

This post was edited by annie1992 on Sun, Feb 24, 13 at 17:46
pkguy
11 years ago
My grandma used to make crepes instead of pancakes. Who knew back then only that I really liked them much more than regular pancakes . I was never as big a fan of traditional style pancakes although I'll never pass up a stack.
My favorite topping as a kid.. Roses Lime Cordial sprinkled with sugar.. IF not that then regular lemon juice with sugar
JXBrown (Sunset 24, N San Diego County)
11 years ago
I had the best galettes one very rainy night in Strasbourg. They were lacy, golden, and buckwheaty. I've never been able to duplicate them. Does anybody have a good recipe for the buckwheat version?
artsyshell
11 years ago
I love crepes, and for some reason hadn't made them in years.

Son recently had his wisdom teeth out and could only eat soft foods, and wanted something different. Inspired by this thread, I made some parsley crepes (some parsley whizzed in with the batter). I used a square crepe pan, which I have yet to master as I still want to make round crepes when I use it. Crepes ended up a lovely green colour, though not a pretty shape, lol

I spread them with flavored cream cheese, then sauteed some mushrooms, prosciutto, tomatoes, spinach, and added that to some scrambled eggs in the making. Filled the crepes, rolled and topped with shredded cheese, they were then baked for 5 min. They were a huge hit, and easy to eat.

Will have to try the nutella or fruit versions next. Thanks so much for the inspiration everyone.
Islay_Corbel
11 years ago
330 g buckwheat flour
10 g salt
75 cl cold water
1 egg

mix the flour and salt. Whisk in the water then add the egg - it's the egg that will give the galette a lovely colour. Some people don't add the egg. Let the mix rest for at least 2 hours.

Make your galettes. For a traditional "complete", butter the galette generously (the Bretons love their salty butter) then put a slice of ham on the galette, then some grated cheese then break an egg. When it starts to cook, then fold in the sides so that you can just see the yolk.Lovely!
ayls101
11 years ago
There are so many interesting crepe recipe here. I enjoyed reading the thread. I will surely make one.
diinohio
11 years ago
Momto4kids and Annie those are both over the top delicious looking!

Di
kitchendetective
11 years ago
Islay reminded me. I've never had a crepe in Burgundy. Should have done that! However, I have had plenty of street vendor crepes in Paris. Do they still have those? Never, ever, in the U.S. have I had a crepe that looked or tasted like the ones I had in Paris. Nothing ever came close. (Probably a good thing, or I'd be an addict.) So, if those were pale comparisons to the Burgundian ones, I cannot imagine how out of this world the latter must be!
Islay_Corbel
11 years ago
Kitchen, it's Brittany, not Burgundy. That's famous for many other delicious things- especially wine. Here we don't grow vines. It's all wonderful fish, shellfish, veggies, butter, pork, chickens, cider, chouchenn, galettes and, well,......... crepes!
momto4kids
11 years ago
Thank you Di!

Annie, how much chocolate did you put in the crepe batter? Cocoa powder, right? I would LOVE to change it up!
annie1992
11 years ago
Deb, I got the recipe from Midwest Living. Yeah, I know it probably isn't authentic but they were rich and chocolately. I used 1/3 cup of cocoa, as per the recipe. I didn't make the sauce but I will sometime, it sounds delicious.

Chocolate Crepes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 Tbsp. sugar

Nutmeg Vanilla Sauce (recipe below)

Chocolate curls

1. In a small bowl, stir together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and cocoa powder; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla; add flour mixture and whisk until combined. Let batter stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.

2. Heat a lightly greased 8-inch skillet over medium-high heat; remove from heat. Pour 3 tablespoons of batter into center of skillet. Lift and tilt skillet to spread batter and coat bottom of pan. Return skillet to heat; cook one side only about 121/2 minutes or until the top is no longer shiny. Invert pan over paper towels to remove finished crepes. Repeat with remaining batter, making 12 crepes total. (Adjust heat as necessary during cooking, greasing skillet and stirring batter if needed.)

3. In a chilled medium bowl combine whipping cream and 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form.

4. To serve, fold each crepe in half. Fold in half again, forming a triangle. Place two crepes on each of six shallow dessert plates. Drizzle with Nutmeg Vanilla Sauce; top with whipped cream and chocolate curls. Makes 6 servings

Nutmeg Vanilla Sauce

In a small saucepan, stir together 3 egg yolks, 3/4 cup milk, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Cook and stir continuously with a wooden spoon or heatproof rubber spatula over medium heat until mixture thickens and just coats the back of a clean metal spoon. Remove pan from heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Quickly cool the custard sauce by placing the saucepan in a large bowl of ice water for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour custard sauce into a bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Chill for at least 1 hour, without stirring, before serving. Makes about 1 cup.

They were good and not too sweet but very chocolately. The Nutella was definitely gilding the lily, I think an orange sauce or maybe cherry would be good with these. The kids are thinking peanut butter and bananas!

Annie
kitchendetective
11 years ago
Islay, of course. Didn't even think I typed "Burgundy." Shouldn't have been typing at all where I was! But the sentiment remains--I've never seen the texture duplicated here in the States. Slightly crisp, very consistent, and sort of a medium tan color. Do you know what I mean?

This post was edited by kitchendetective on Wed, Feb 27, 13 at 14:14
momto4kids
11 years ago
Annie, thank you!!! I will give these a try! The girls are soooo set in their ways about this long-time tradition. I think I'll just surprise them. And I'll whip up some whipped cream! They'll be happy!
Islay_Corbel
11 years ago
Yes, Kitchen. I know just what you mean!