Each year on the 2nd of February, French people celebrate la Chandeleur (Candlelight). On this day French people make crepes using their favourite French crepe recipe. Crepes are cheap, easy and quick to make. There are perfect for breakfast, dinner or in your kid`s lunch box. 

Crepes are a French dish from Bretagne (North West of France) and crepes are taken very seriously in the region where they have a crêpes competition every year !!

In France we eat crepe in various ways with savoury or sweet filing. Usually for a savoury crepes we use black wheat flour or buckwheat flour, in this case we don’t call it crêpes anymore but galette. For a sweet crepes we use plain flour. 

The difference between crepes and pancake is that crepes are thinner, lighter and larger than pancake.

As we say crepes is a recipes that is passed on from generation to generation, I got my French crepe recipe from my mother who got it from her mother…but each family has their own way to make crepes, that’s why we find a thousand of different crepes recipe on the internet.  The one I give you today comes from Pierre Hermé who is a famous French pastry chef and chocolatier in France. I could give you my mums recipe but I really love Pierre Herme recipe because the crepes are thin and light.

What do you need for this French crepe recipe :

1 electronic scale (french recipe are always in grams)

1 non stick fry pan (easier to lift and flip the crepe)   

1 metalic spatule 

1 ladle 

1 blender (optional) 

Using a good quality non stick fry pan will make cooking crepe easier as you wont need to grease the fry pan after each crepe and will be easier to lift and flip the crepe. I use a tefal crepe fry pan but you can use any non stick fry pan with a low profile. 

 Ingredients for 10-12 crepes

Preparation : 10 minutes 

• 500 g of full milk 
• 200 g of plain flour
• 4 eggs
• 60 g of water 
• 3 g salt 
• 20 g of melted butter
• optional : 30 g of rum or Grand marnier if you want only sweet crepe  

For a gluten free version swap the Flour with a gluten free flour or a buckwheat flour 

For a lactose free version swap the milk by almond milk or soy milk  

Directions

1.If you use the blender :  put the eggs, milk, water, salt, melted butter and add the flour. Blend for 1 minute in high speed. The good thing by using a blender is that you won’t  get any batter lumps.

If you do it by hand : whisk eggs and salt, add the flour whisk again. Mix together water and milk and add them slowly to the eggs. At the end add the melted butter, the batter has to be smooth.

2. Leave the batter rest for at least 2 hours. This resting time allow the crepe to be light and  smooth. If you can’t wait that long rest the badder for at least 15 minutes. 

3. Dip a piece of paper towel in melted butter and use to brush the fry pan. Heat the frying pan over medium heat. The fry pan need to be hot. Pour a large ladle of batter tiling from side to side. Cook crepe for 1 minute until underside is golden then flip it with a spatula. Cook the other side for less than 1 minute. 

4. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep the crêpes warm. Repeat with remaining mixture. If the batter is too thick add some milk. 

Savoury filling for kids lunch box 

• Salmon, cream cheese and dill 
• Ham, cheese and spinach
• Omelette and spinach 

Vegetarian filling 

• Cooked mushroom and spinach with cream cheese 
• Tomatoes and buffalo 
• Cooked zucchini, tomatoes and cheese

Healthy sweet filling 

• Strawberry or berries with cottage cheese
• Apple or pear and honey or agave syrup 

For a special treat 

• Melted chocolate and banana or strawberries
• Honey and flaked almond 
• lemon and 1 teaspoon of sugar 

Bon Appetit!

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