Crêpe please, not crap

by Pam, Sydney (Australia)

The most popular dessert in France is undoubtly the crêpe. In Paris, you will find a crêpe stand almost everywhere, in the same way you would expect to find hot dogs in New York. You will also find a myriad of crêperies, these restaurant serving crêpes only, sweet or savoury.
Although many regions in France have their own version of crêpes, the most famous one is the crêpe bretonne, from Brittany.

While every household in France would have its own recipie for crêpes, let me present you mine, made with the addition of beer. Yes… beer.

• Servings: about 15 crêpes
• Preparation times:
  • Active: 20 minutes
  • Rest: 2 hours
• Ingredients:
  Here ingredients are “mug-based”. So take your usual mug, not a huge one, just the usual standard mug.
  • 1 mug of plain white flour
  • 1 mug of light beer
  • 1 mug of milk
  • 1/2 mug of eggs (around 4 eggs, depending on the size of your eggs)
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • butter (to grease the frying pan)
• Steps:
  1. Mix the flour and eggs in a large salad bowl.
  2. Add the milk and beer and mix until the paste is nice an uniform. No chunks.
  3. Add the sugar and mix until the sugar is dissolved in the paste.
  4. Cover the paste with a plate and leave it to rest for a couple of hours (or half a day if you have time, the longer the better).
  5. After resting, mix the paste again until it is nice an uniform.
  6. Heat a thin slice of butter in a frying pan over medium heat. You will know the pan is at best temperature when the butter is sizzling, melting fast but not burning.
  7. Wipe the butter over the pan’s surface using a paper towel. Now the pan is ready.
  8. Using a laddle in your right hand, pour the paste over the edge of the pan on the top right (at 2 o’clock). Your left hand holding the pan should bring motion to the paste in a counter clock-wise manner so that the paste quickly covers most of the pan. Quickly maneuver the pan to the paste to fill all gaps.
  9. After a minute of cooking, you will notice that the paste starts to unstick from the pan. Using a spatula, gently help unstick. Then flip over.
  10. While it is still on the pan, add a slice of butter and spread gently over half of the crêpe. Also spread sugar on the same surface. Leave it to caramelise.
  11. Fold the crêpe in half, and then in three to make a nice triangle.
• Notes:
  • You can use any filling for the crêpe. However, simple is sometimes better and the crêpe beurre-sucre, with only butter and sugar, is French people’s favourite.
  • Don’t be shy of using butter. Its flavour is irreplaceable.
  • Beer in this recipie gives a lighter texture to the crêpe. If you don’t want or have beer, you can replace it by a similar amount of water.
  • Crêpe making can sound a bit esoteric at the beginning, but once the gist is understood, it become very easy.