CHRISTMAS CRÊPES

Better and easier than pancakes?

For my December newsletter I wanted to share an old family recipe for crêpes. It’s a recipe we make almost every year on Christmas morning and I love it so much.

This is a simple recipe with very few ingredients, but in my family we do things a bit differently. These are not those pale flabby giant crêpes you usually see dusted in powdered sugar. These crêpes are small, golden brown and lacy. I eat mine in a special way, filling each crêpe with plain yogurt and raspberries, then rolling it up into a cigar and drizzling it with maple syrup. I cut off bite sized pieces with my fork and eat it with my fingers. PURE HEAVEN. We also do a savory version with smoked salmon, pictured above.

Crêpes have less ingredients and are, dare I say, easier to make than pancakes, but the batter MUST be made at least 12 hours in advance, so plan accordingly! I’ve tried to skip this step and they turn out soft with no texture and tend to tear easily. I like a bit of chew in my crêpes, so the resting step is key.

I also love this recipe because it scales up and down simply and is easy to remember. The base recipe per person is 1 egg, 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup flour, a pinch of salt and 1/4 cup flour. So for four people, it’s 4 eggs, 1, cup, 1 cup, 1 cup, and so on. Easy math. I love it.

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Photos by Ben Turner, whose work you can find here.

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CRÊPES (sweet + savory) serves 4

Click here for a printable PDF of the recipe without photos

• 4 eggs 

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup water 

• ½ teaspoon salt 

• 1 cup flour 

• Unsalted butter to fry your crêpes

To serve -

• Plain yogurt, raspberries + maple syrup 

• Crème fraiche, smoked salmon, dill, chives or shallot

At least 12 hours or up to two days in advance - in a large bowl whisk together the 4 eggs. Add 1 cup milk, 1 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk thoroughly. Next, whisk in 1 cup flour. That’s it! Now cover your batter and allow it to rest in the fridge until ready to use.

After 12 hours the flour will sort of sink to the bottom of the bowl so be sure to give it a good whisk.

Just like with pancakes the first crêpe usually isn’t perfect, but here’s the basic method -

Preheat a 10” skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon butter to the pan and it should melt quickly and foam a bit. When the foaming subsides the pan should be the right temperature. Lower the flame to medium or medium low if the butter is starting to brown. Using a 1/3 cup measurer pour in 1/3 cup batter (if using a smaller or larger pan you should adjust the amount of batter accordingly). Now comes the bit that my dad taught me to get those brown lacy ridges, you want to lift your pan away from the heat and as you slowly drizzle in the batter with one hand, shake the pan with the other so you get a bit of a rippling effect as the batter hits the hot pan and starts to set. Moving quickly, swirl the remaining batter against the sides of the pan so your batter perfectly covers the bottom of the pan. Check the bottom after about a minute - we want deep golden here. Once golden brown you can flip and cook on the other side for about 1 minute.

too pale:

just right:

Now moving quickly, remove the cooked crêpe from the pan and add in another 1/2 tablespoon butter, swirling to coat the pan, and then drizzle and shake as you add another 1/3 cup of batter. Continue to adjust heat as needed. Keep going until you’ve used up all of your batter. Leftover batter can be stored for up to two days.

You can serve these however you’d like, but I usually go for a couple sweet crêpes with plain yogurt, raspberries and maple syrup, and one savory with crème fraiche, smoked salmon, dill, chives, or shallot and salmon roe if I can get it!