Sunday, April 11, 2010

Basic Crepes

Crepes are very thin pancakes originated in France and actually considered a french national dish. Made by pouring thin consistency batter onto a flat round pan. The batter is spread evenly by tilting the pan in a circular motion, until it creates a round, thin surface. Sweet or savory can be filled with different ingredients and served as a main course or dessert.

My alltime favorite, since childhood, are crepes filled with vanilla creamed farmer's (cream) cheese and strawberry preserve, dusted with powdered sugar. Sauteed apples with sugar and dash of cinnamon make a delicious crepe filling, topped with homemade whipped cream... yum!
Try crepes with nutella and bananas... especially sauteed bananas. Warm bananas melt the chocolate nutella little bit and make it all just come together in the little bites of heaven.



There are several different versions of recipes for crepes, and they all are pretty good. I usually make crepes from my old family recipe that came from my Aunt Maria, who used to cook for a family of french Counts in Poland back in the 1930's.


Crepes
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  • 2 cups AP flour
  • 1,5 cup milk
  • 1 cup sparkling water (regular water is fine, or milk)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 TBS melter butter (or vegetable oil)
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 TBS sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla

Whisk all the ingredients together, the batter should be somewhat thin, much thinner then standard american pancake batter. Refrigerate the batter for 20-30 minutes before using.
Preheat a teaspoon of vegetable oil on a nonstick skillet (use crepe pan if you have it), pour some batter and tilt your pan couple of times around to distribute the batter in a thin, even layer.
Cook on a medium heat about a minute on the first side, flip and another minute or less and the other side. Just until the crepes are lightly golden.

Fill with your favorite filling, and either roll them or fold in a half or quarters...

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1 comment:

Holga said...

I'm Polish, but nobody in my family doesn't save the recipe for crepes, and I was looking for a lover of cooking the perfect recipe. And I found! Thank you, crepes are delicious.

p.s. I do not know if what I wrote is understandable, partly because I use a translator.