Hey There! As I promised on Facebook, today I share with you the most delectable crêpe recipe that I recently found—and have since enjoyed a few times too many. ;)
Crêpes are pretty much Eierkuchen for Germans, and seeing how my husband and I love them no matter what they’re called, we figured it was high time to do away with the makeshift crêpe/Eierkuchen pan of ours and spring for the real deal.
The old pan we used to use was the most shallow of “frying pans” that we had, and the size was decent enough to make a nice sized crêpe. Unfortunately, the two handles were not very (if at all) heat resistant, and seeing how I’m a total Tollpatsch (German word for ‘klutz’), this was a recipe for disaster every time we had crêpes on the brain.
So…last weekend we trekked off to Kaufhof I think it was (they have a Kaufland, Karstadt, Kauf-this and Kauf-that…which just means “shopping” to some extent). Anyway, we trekked to some big Kauf-ish department store and decided it was not only time to replace our makeshift crêpe pan, but our wok as well.
I guess I cook Asian dishes with a serious vigor, resulting in a lot of nasty scrapes and lopped off pieces of protective coating of our recently retired wok. It was a mess.
Anyhow, we retired our French and Asian pans and have replaced them with two new beauties. No dish washer for these babies (not that we ever had room to clean these pans in that manner to begin with). No intense heat (70% of heat capacity is recommended, at most, in order to keep the protective coating from becoming, err, not protective). No harsh cleaning chemicals or brushes. Check and double check. And lots of happy and hearty use!
Will I start to “season my crêpe pan” you might ask? That’s a good question. I don’t know what the heck that even means, but the thought cropped into my mind when I was washing my new pan for the first time.
See, I’m a huge fan of the sitcom Frasier. Perhaps my most favorite character, Niles (the little brother of Frasier), is as meticulous about…everything…as they come. One episode he mentions that he’s been annually seasoning his crêpe pan, and how dare Frasier not follow suit! Niles has been seasoning it since he was in grammar school, after all! Like any good little cook.
Perhaps I should look into seasoning my crêpe pan, too, because we love our crêpes…our Eierkuchen…and I think I’m loving the pan and loving making them almost as much as the crêpes themselves!
With the pan came a little wooden crêpe spreader (yeah…no clue what it’s called. Mental note: Google “crêpe spreader” at the same time I google “crêpe seasoning.”) And a little wooden spatula thing-a-ma-bob came with the pan, as well. Basically we’re seriously outfitted to make some A+ crêpes!
While a pan designed specifically to make crêpes is highly advised when preparing this recipe I’m about to share, it’s not compulsory. I used this recipe twice with my handle-burning pan and they tasted delightful.
So whether you have a crêpe pan or not, I invite you to try this tasty recipe. Because, hey, the 4th of July may be over in the States and the summer snackie foods may be stowed away, but there’s always room for dessert. And always an occasion.
And, if you love crêpes so much (as we do), and love making them so much (as I really do with our new pan now), you just might want to make them for a refreshing meal one evening. There are no rules as to what you can put in or on a crêpe. Usually we go for the sweeties like fresh blueberries and strawberries. Applesauce and cinnamon sugar. Even Nusspli (my husband’s preference to Nutella). Drizzles of honey or powdered sugar or jam are tasty too. But we’ve also done slices of fresh mozzarella with some Basil leaves and cuts of tomato. Feta cheese with mushrooms is also a tasty combo…even adding some salsa or sour cream tastes yummsers!
Here’s the recipe, and a few fun photos of our recent crêpe time.
Bon Appetit!
Recipe for CrêpesRecipe yields about 5 crêpes.
Ingredients: 80 grams of Flour (about ⅔ cup) ½ tsp. Sugar ¼ tsp. Salt 2 Eggs 320 ml Milk 4 tsp. Butter, melted
Directions:
1) Mix together the Flour, Sugar, and Salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
2) Beat Eggs and Milk together with an electric mixer in a large bowl. (Note: an electric mixer is important here. I thought I had enough arm power one time but the end product just isn’t as good. Whip the eggs and milk with an electric mixer for a good 30 seconds. You want some fluffiness!)
3) Pour and beat the flour mixture in with the egg mixture. (Another good 30 seconds ought to do it with the electric mixer.)
4) Stir into the batter the melted Butter.
5) Heat the lightly (and I mean lightly) oiled griddle/crêpe pan over medium heat (max of 70% capacity to protect your coated pan). (Note: I let mine heat up for a good 2 minutes or so before I pour my batter because you want the pan really hot to cook the crêpe just right. But I work with a darn electric stovetop, which is never ideal for instant heat, hence my 2 min. wait time before pouring.)
6) Pour some batter onto the pan. If heated just right it’ll crackle and sizzle, and will start to cook quickly so start that even distribution of batter in the pan!
7) Like thin crêpes? Rotate and tip the pan, or spread like mad with your “crêpe spreader” so you have some thin little suckers. Like them thicker? Pour on that batter!
8) Brown on both sides and enjoy warm with whatever you like!
Enjoy and, as always, Happy Reading!
P.S.-- If you test out this recipe and want to share your experience or your photos, I'd love to see them over at my Facebook Page!! :)
