While at Renn Fayre this past weekend I had the opportunity to eat some of the crépes that the French department makes as a fundraiser. They have a nice operation with tasty filling choices and fancy crépe makers.
I hadn’t made crépes myself in about 2 years, but I was inspired to make some for dinner last night. Mine aren’t nearly as light and thin, but they were tasty. Here is the batter recipe that I use:
Crépe Batter
(Makes fifteen, but the recipe can be easily multiplied to the desired amount)
In a saucepan melt 1 C milk, 2 tbl butter, a pinch of sea salt, and 1/4 tea of sugar. Whisk until the butter is liquefied and remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly, but keep whisking it every few seconds or so to keep it smooth and skinless. After a few minutes add 1/4 C of beer. ( I used New Glarus Uff-Da Bock.)
On the counter or in a bowl add a generous 3/4 C of unbleached all-purpose flour. Make a well in the center of the flour and add 1 large egg (or 2 smaller eggs) and 1/4 Tbl of a fruity olive oil or a plain vegetable oil. Combine the egg and the oil and begin to incorporate the flour until you have a coarse dough.
Add the milk/beer mixture to the dough and combine with a whisk until smooth. This will take some time, the goal is to work all of the coarse dough into the milk mixture.
Heat a pan with a nice gradual lip (helps to flip the crépes) over medium to medium-high heat. (The first crépe will likely be lousy, the temperature has to be just right, adjust your burner accordingly.) Once evenly heated, coat the pan with butter and add about an 1/8 C of batter to the pan. Do this quickly and begin to move the batter around in the batter to coat the bottom.
Let cook about a minute and a half on each side. When the crépe is ready to flip you will notice the edges turning golden and pulling away from the sides and the center looking dry rather than wet. Work your magic flipping the crépe or turn it manually, but do so gently. Now add any fillings and cook until the second side is done.
For fillings we used:
Granny smith apple and brie
Spinach and dill havarti
Spinach and morel & leek jack cheese
Bananas and sugar
While the ordinary jam is nice, the combinations are endless so why not be creative.
show hide 4 comments
Zarah Maria - Oh-la-la, crepes! Just out of curiosity – would that be havarti with spinach and dill in it, or just plain havarti topped with spinach and dill? We only have the regular non-equipped kind here, do you get combos in the US?
gemma - Hi Zarah. It was made with Havarti-Dill cheese (all in one) topped with fresh spinach. No Havarti Dill cheese! What a shame. It is one of my favorites.
Nic - How unusual to have beer in crepe batter, particularly with the banana crepe, as I can see how it would work well with the savories. Nutella and bananas is my favorite crepe combo, personally. Yum!
gemma - Yep, I guess the beer wasn’t ideally suited for the sweet crépe (it was a last minute craving), but actually the batter didn’t taste too beer-y. I would never throw in a can of MGD (let alone have it in the house!), but this heartier bock gave the batter a nice complexity. A stout would work lovely as well. I think these kinds of beers can add a level to the taste that could be comparable to chocolate perhaps. I might be crazy though.
I still do like, and would most likely opt for, a more traditional (e.g. no beer) batter recipe if I were making primarily sweet crépes.
Mmm. . . Nutella.