Sweet Crepes

For a light and airy breakfast, whip up some crepes. Crepes can also be used for desserts and adapted to savory dishes.

KITCHEN STORIES: Good Morning, Let’s Get Started!

When you wake up in the morning, your first thought isn’t usually, “I think I’ll make a batch of crepes for breakfast.” It definitely wasn’t on my radar, even when Chef Husband asked me to search out a basic sweet crepe recipe. Flipping though a few of the French cookbooks in our collection, including Escoffier (the chef’s cookbook of all cookbooks), we came up with some basic proportions for a recipe and he went to work whisking up a crepe batter.

With a light batter achieved, he next went to work prepping his pan and made a crepe (while I wasn’t watching, because I was washing dishes). Then he proceeded to hand me the ladle and move me into position to take over the process. Feelings of panic washed over me, but there was a note of confidence deep down. I can do this, because after all, I now know how to “sauté”(flip/jump) ingredients in a sauté pan. So Chef Husband walked me through my first ever crepe.

• Lightly spray the pan with pan coating
• Ladle 1 oz of batter directly into the center of the pan
• Swirl the pan to coat the bottom and slightly up the edges
• Wait until the edges start to brown and crepe is loosened by shaking the pan
• When cooking a crepe, eggs, pancake, etc., first side down is the presentation side
• Flip the crepe and continue cooking for a few more seconds, remove from the pan and repeat

You Learn by Doing

So, I repeated this process about 20 more times and here were my observations:

• I perfected my pattern, about 12 crepes in: spray pan (left hand), scoop batter (right hand), hold pan (left hand), 5 seconds to pour (right hand) and swirl the batter (left hand), 25 seconds to cook 1st side on the heat, flip (right hand) and cook 25 more seconds, slide off onto parchment paper to hold.
• The crepes seemed to have the best color when the pan was at 380° (using an infrared surface thermometer)
• You need to whisk/aerate the batter each time, to keep the same light consistency from crepe to crepe (over time the batter settles/thickens making a heavier crepe)
• If the crepe doesn’t fully turnover, folding onto itself, use your fingers to lay it back flat, 1st side down, and flip it again. They’re not as delicate as you would think.
• If you can’t “sauté” simply use an offset palette knife to lift the edge so it can be picked up and turned over by hand.

Later That Day

The initial prompting for testing and mastering the crepes in the morning, was for a dessert event later in the day. Chef Husband was charged with teaching two lovely ladies in the kitchen at our local Good News Rescue Mission how to prepare these exact crepes for about 40 guests. They took hold of the challenge and came through with flying colors.

In Closing

All in all, both myself and our evening GNRM recruits, we learned that crepes are absolutely nothing to fear. I think they’re actually easier to make than pancakes.