Tuesday, February 12, 2008

French Crepes



Last week being Mardi Gras and all, I decided to break out the crepe pan and make some crepes for dessert, just like we used to when I was living in France. The idea of crepes on Mardi Gras is to get rid of the butter and eggs from your house, since you aren't supposed to indulge in those during Lent!
So I have already done the Julia Child recipe which I really like a lot, and I decided to try Tartelette's recipe, since it calls for beer and that is something I've never put in a crepe! The idea behind the beer is that it gives the crepes these yummy holes.


I liked her recipe, although I have to say my crepes were a bit tougher than the Julia Child recipe. Could be me, could be the recipe, not sure. I filled them with homemade chocolate sauce or cinnamon, sugar and butter. They were gobbled up in no time, and my kids declared they "love" crepes! Mission accomplished.
Here is Tartelette's recipe:

Makes 12 crepes

250 g flour
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 Tb. oil
pinch of salt
1/2 cup light beer

In a blender or food processor, combine all the igredients and pulse until fully incorporated and no lumps remain.
If you decide to do it by hand: combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, oil and a little bit of milk. Work the batter with a whisk, and slowly add the remaining milk, until the batter comes together and the lumps disappear. Add the beer.
No matter what method you used, strain the batter if necessary. Refrigerate, covered for an hour.
In a saute pan set over medium high heat, laddle 1/4 -1/3 cup batter (depending on the size of your pan) and cook 1-2 minutes on each side.

2 comments:

Helene said...

Sorry they didi not turn out exactly like you wanted. I found that the consistency of the crepe varies with every pan used. I bought a crpe pan years ago from Tefal that I love. The surface is full if little ridges which distribute the air evenly all underneath the crepe and makes for a light and airy end product. I also do half all purpose, half cake flour when I know I won't be able to use the pan. Yours still looked like I would eat a buch though!

Lesley said...

Oh but Helene they were delicious. I think the batter was a bit thicker and I used too much, so that would be my fault.