You know those social media posts you come across from time to time which has this crazy stack of crepes sandwiched together with something nom-nom-nommy, cut into wedges like a cake? This post is a bit like that.
I mean, I didn’t go so far as to do the sandwiching and the cutting – you have to leave yourself some treats for another day, but this post is about the classic building block, the super thin, melt in the mouth, French delicacy, the crepe.
I actually have a bit of a backlog of posts jostling for attention, and amongst them is a draft called “Fabiens Fabulous French Crepes”. That one is made with a ruinous amount of butter and even has a slosh of rum in the batter. I promise I’ll share it. But this one… well this one is special in itself, because it is such a simple mix, yet the results are really wonderful.
Three ingredients. Flour, eggs, milk. And you know what? There is so little flour in the batter, that these crepes actually qualify as acceptable diet food. Two crepes are just 138 calories, and have 9.5 grams of protein, which means you can have them stuffed with fruit and yogurt for breakfast and satisfy your daily cake cravings. It’s like a dream come true.
The recipe below makes 16, but you can halve or quarter the recipe, or double it if you like, and have as many or few as you need. I like to make a bunch of them and freeze them between sheets of baking paper, but a one-egg batter makes four crepes, which is perfect for a surprise dessert for two. I like to serve them wrapped up into a parcel with fruit, yogurt, or ice cream inside, but of course you can use your imagination!
Straight-up Crepes
makes 16
ingredients
4 eggs
500mL milk (I used high protein skim milk)
120g flour
about 5g of butter, for greasing the pan
mixing
Beat the eggs and milk together. Place the flour in a large bowl and add about 1/2 a cup of the egg mixture to mix to a smooth paste. Continue to add the egg mixture gradually until a runny paste forms, then add the rest of the egg mixture and mix until well-combined. The batter will be quite liquid. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes.
Heat a frying pan (I like a cast iron pan) or crepe pan over medium heat. Holding the butter in a folded paper towel, carefully and quickly grease the pan so that a thin layer of butter covers the whole surface. Reserve the buttery paper towel for the next greasing.
Pour 1/4 cup (60mL) of the batter onto the hot pan, and tilt the pan to allow the mixture to spread over the whole surface. This takes a bit of speed and practice! Allow the crepe to cook until the edges start to turn golden and curl up: about 60 seconds.
Using a fish slice or palette knife, gently turn the crepe over, and cook for a further 60 seconds.
Repeat the process, buttering the pan, then cooking each crepe until all of the batter is used up. I stack the crepes up on a plate as I go; they can be gently separated once they are all cooked. You could also keep them warm in the oven set to about 60 degrees C if you wanted to serve them immediately.
Enjoy!xxx
