French Crepes (Master recipe)

Crepes can conjure up images of a stressed cook and fraught nerves. Nothing can be further from the truth. Once you make them, you will realise that they are quite simple really, and are a great way to use ordinary ingredients and convert them into a main course dish. It’s also an excellent way to use leftovers, especially bits of cheese lurking in the fridge door.

La Creperie de Hampstead
Making crepes at La Creperie in Hamsptead

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Creperie in Hampstead London is an institution, with a queue forming outside at all times of the day. I have watched their technique several times, and their speciality is to  make the basic crepes first and then cook them a second time after they are filled. I can’t get myself to use the vast amount of butter that the Hampstead Creperie does for the second round of cooking, but even with a smaller amount of butter, the results are very good. The kids love these and served with a substantial side salad makes for a filling and satisfying meal.

With respect to the batter, I’ve tried a few different recipes and finally settled on an original one by Julia child which makes light, airy crepes because it uses a combination of milk and water and whole eggs. You don’t need any special equipment other than a simple non-stick frying pan. I only possess one non-stick pan which I keep solely for this purpose.

The best part about making crêpes is that you can make a stack of them beforehand and keep them frozen for a quick yet special supper.

Here’s a short video on how to form the crepes:

Click here for the  Ham & Cheese crepes recipe.

Other Savoury suggestions:

Mushroom & Cheese (and garlic)
Spinach and cheese (and garlic)
Ratatouille or any mixed cooked vegetables
You can also add an egg to any of the fillings to make it more substantial.

Sweet crepes:

Lemon and sugar
Dark chocolate
Nutella (homemade of course, click here for the recipe)

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French Crepes (Master recipe)
A classic recipe for French crepes. The batter should be make a little ahead of time, as it's best to refrigerate the mixture for at least 2 hours. This allows the flour to absorb the liquid which makes the crepes light and lacy.
Cuisine Modern British
Prep Time 10 min
Cook Time 30 min
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
crepes
Ingredients
Cuisine Modern British
Prep Time 10 min
Cook Time 30 min
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
crepes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. The batter can be made simply with a stick blender or a food processor by mixing all the ingredients including the butter on a medium – high speed until you get a smooth lump-free better.
  2. Alternatively it can be done by hand in which case put all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Measure out the wet ingredients into a measuring jug and slowly whisk in to the dry ingredients until fully blended.
  3. The batter should be really quite thin, as you can see, thinner than single cream. Add a dash more water or milk if needed to thin it out. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using.
  4. To cook the crepes: Preheat the frying pan on medium heat. It's important that the pan is medium hot, and not too hot. Use a ladle to pour the batter into the centre of the pan and quickly swirl it by picking it up and lettung the batter flow right to the edges.
  5. You might need one or two tries to determine the exact amount to better you need a crepe so that you just get a thin layer of the bottom of the pan with no excess.
  6. Once the bottom of the crepe is golden, turn it over and cook the other side until a few spots appear on the second side. See photo below.
  7. Remove and stack on a plate and make the next. You can stack the crepes one on top of the other until you finish making all of them, they wont’ stick.
  8. Cooled crepes can be frozen. Wrap tightly into rap and place in a Ziploc bag. Squeeze out the air before putting in the freezer. Defrost in the fridge before using.
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