Crepes is standard fair for France and for street vendors, it’s a bustling business selling all kinds of different crepe versions to tourists. While most crepe offerings are sweet and dessert orientated, crepes can also be savory with fried eggs, meat, and vegetables. This recipe is for a traditional version of crepe batter and to do it well will take 24 hrs, although you can cheat and do it in 2 hrs.
Ingredients
- 514 g Whole milk (500 ml)
- 225 g Flour
- 3 eggs
- 40 g Caster sugar – can use regular sugar
- 40 g Butter – melted
- 2 g Kosher salt
- 0.5 tsp Vanilla extract – optional
Process
- Mise en Place: Measure and prepare your ingredients before starting.
- Mix all the dry ingredients and spread on a counter creating a well in the center.
- Add eggs to center of well.
- Slowly whisk, steadily increasing your circle drawing in more flour until a thick paste is formed. You want to maintain your well with flour on the border.
- In increments, add small amount of milk and whisk into egg batter, constantly drawing more flour into the batter by increasing the well’s diameter.
- Repeat step 5 as if you were making a Roux until all the flour is incorporated.
- Add melted butter and vanilla and incorporate.
- At this point the batter should be thick but runny, like thin pancake batter.
- Cover and let rest in the fridge for 2 – 24 hrs. Batter can actually last several days, but day 1 is optimal.
- If making a dessert, you can make the crepes in advance but for savory crepes it is usually best to make the crepe while you build the savory interior (think burrito)
Note: The reason you rest the batter for 24 hrs is to let the gluten relax, which creates a smoother crepe. Also, you are giving nature time to do it chemical/biological magic that results in a better tasting crepe with a more desirable texture.
