Recipe: How to Make Crêpes

the appetizer:

Learn Professional Baking with this cookbook by Wayne Gisslen, featuring recipes for Praline Cake (Pralinette); Basic Crêpes; Crêpes Suzette; and Crêpes Soufflés Suzette.

I Love Desserts

Crêpes

Yield: about 50 crêpes

Crêpes are thin, unleavened pancakes. They are rarely served plain but are instead used to construct a great variety of desserts by being rolled around fillings, layered with fillings, or served with sweet sauces. Unsweetened crêpes are used in similar ways but filled with meat, fish, or vegetable preparations.

Unlike leavened pancakes, crêpes may be made in advance, covered and refrigerated, and used as needed. When the crêpes are filled and rolled or folded, the side that was browned first, which is the more attractive side, should be on the outside.

Ingredients
	U.S.	Metric	%
Bread flour	8 oz	250 g	50
Cake flour	8 oz	250 g	50
Sugar	2 oz	60 g	12.5
Salt	0.5 oz	15 g	3
Eggs	12 oz (7 large eggs)	375 g	75
Milk	2 lb	1000 g	200
Oil or clarified butter	5 oz	150 g	20
Total weight:	4 lb 3 oz	2100 g	421%

Mixing

1. Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl.

2. Add the eggs and just enough of the milk to make a soft paste with the flour.

Mix until smooth and lump-free.

3. Gradually mix in the rest of the milk and the oil. The batter should be about the consistency of heavy cream. If it is too thick, mix in a little water. If it has lumps, pour it through a strainer.

4. Let the batter rest 2 hours before frying.

Frying

1. Rub a 6- or 7-in. (15-18 cm) crêpe pan or skillet lightly with oil. Heat the pan over moderately high heat until it is very hot. Brush lightly with melted butter and pour off any excess (photo a).

2. Remove from heat and pour in about 3-4 tablespoons (45-60 mL) of the batter. Very quickly tilt the pan to cover the bottom with a thin layer. Immediately dump out any excess batter, as the crêpe must be very thin (b).

3. Return to the heat for about 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, until the bottom is lightly browned. Flip the crêpe and brown the second side (c). The second side will brown only in a few spots and will not be as attractive as the first side. The first side should always be the visible side when the crêpe is served (d).

4. Slide the crêpe onto a plate. Continue making crêpes and stacking them as they are finished. Grease the pan lightly when necessary.

5. Cover the finished crêpes and refrigerate until needed.

Chocolate Crêpes

Ingredients
	U.S.	Metric	%
Bread flour	6 oz	190 g	37.5
Cake flour	8 oz	250 g	50
Cocoa powder	2 oz	60 g	12.5

Reduce the quantity of flour in the crêpe formula and add cocoa powder in the proportion listed. Sift the cocoa with the flour in step 1 of the mixing procedure.

Crêpe Desserts

The following are only a few of many possible suggestions. The variety of crêpe desserts you can prepare is limited only by your imagination.

Crêpes Normande. Sauté fresh sliced apples in butter and sprinkle with sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Roll the apples in crêpes and dust with confectioners' sugar.
Banana Crêpes. Sauté sliced bananas quickly in butter and sprinkle with brown sugar and a dash of rum. Roll the filling in the crêpes. Serve with apricot sauce (p. 277 of the book).
Crêpes with Jam. Spread apricot jam on crêpes and roll them up. Sprinkle with sugar and run under the broiler quickly to glaze the sugar.
Glazed Crêpes. Fill crêpes with vanilla pastry cream (p. 271) and roll them up. Sprinkle with sugar and run under the broiler to glaze the sugar.
Crêpes Frangipane. Spread the crêpes with Frangipane filling (p. 201) and roll them up or fold them in quarters. Brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place in a buttered baking dish and bake in a hot oven about 10 minutes to heat through. Serve with chocolate sauce or vanilla sauce.
Crêpes Suzette. This most famous of all crêpe desserts is generally prepared at tableside by the waiter according to the procedure in the following recipe. The crêpes, fruit, sugar, and butter are supplied by the kitchen. The dish can also be prepared in the kitchen or pastry department by coating crêpes with hot Sauce Suzette.