193 replies to this topic

[Megan Blocker]

Chufi, that looks beautiful!

I was so inspired that I decided to make a couple of crepes myself, but a small batch - just one egg, a little flour, water and milk. The first one was not as browned as I would have liked; the next two came out well!

Filled two with just butter and sugar, and one with Bonne Maman peach preserves.

[Abra]

That aromatic mix sounds like such a great crepe idea - maybe even in the pastry creme for a milles crepes? For anisette I have Pastis, and Absente. Would either of those work?

[Chufi]

I think that would be a great idea. To be honest the flavoring was overpowered by the lemon curd, but tasted delicious in the crepe I ate while I was assembling the thing. So putting it in the pastry cream for a filling would be great.

I think pastis is fine, I used pernod, because that's what I had.

Edited by Chufi, 17 June 2006 - 02:07 PM.

[SuzySushi]

Here's my submission: traditional Breton Buckwheat Crêpes (Crêpes Sarrasin).

Batter recipe is:

1-1/4 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons melted butter

Combine all ingredients except butter and whisk well. Pour into a bowl. Let stand 1 hour.
Whisk in butter. Heat a lightly oiled 10" crêpe pan over medium-high heat. Pour in a scant 1/4 cup batter and tilt pan quickly to cover the bottom. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface and the bottom is golden brown. Turn and cook the other side about 15 seconds. Makes about 12 crêpes.



I filled these with Swiss cheese and ham, rolled them up, and finished them with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

[Susan in FL]

Lovely, All. What an inspirational topic. I'm still trying to decide what kind to make.

Finally, you know that little bit of leftover batter that's not enough to make another crepe?  Cook's treat, right?  So I toss the bit of batter into the pan, turn around to rinse the blender, and voila



Think I could sell this on eBay to some cat worshippers?

LOL, that is too funny.

[creativeingredients]

Poll:

Who adds fat before each new crepe?

I make crepes in either a blue steel crepe pan or an All Clad stainless steel frying pan. Either way I have to add fat before cooking each crepe. Seems to take me forever to get through the batter. The most requested filling is home-made nutella. My home-made product is much thinner at room temp and easier to spread than the real thing.

The blue steel crepe pan seems to really splatter when the batter is added. Does anybody else find that? I make crepes almost every weekend and still don't seem to be 'getting it.'

[torakris]

I am definitely going to attempt crepes this week!
As I was out with the family yesterday and we passed yet another Japanese crepe stand I thought to myself that I want my kids to know what crepes are supposed to taste like.
For those of you that have never experienced Japanese style crepes...

voila!



The whole Japanese crepe thread

[Mistinguett]

Chocolate crepe with lemon curd, a bit of whipped cream and strawberry. My husband had a couple of them with just apricot preserve.

[Grub]

Seafood Crêpes:



Filling is sauteed onion, celery and shrimp in a Bechamel sauce with lime juice and cayenne pepper, salt & pepper.

Crêpe batter is 2 eggs, 1 cup flour, 1.5 cup milk, 1 tsp salt. Done in a cheap, non-stick pan, with a tiny bit of butter in between every second crêpe or so -- but wasn't really necessary, though.

I was kinda proud, but mostly confused, because all of a sudden, it seemed as if I'd totally mastered this stuff -- everything turned out really well, and browned just perfectly. This recipe used an extra half a cup milk compared to what I'd done earlier. It was a little thinner, and every single crêpe turned out just so. Actually, one other difference is that I used bread flour, instead of AP this time. I wonder if that's what made it so easy?

Enough with the savory crêpes for me -- next one, I'll do some desert ones instead I think.

[BryanZ]

So we made the mille crepe today that's been all the rage. Actually my sister made it and I kind of watched.


We got like 30+ layers in this thing.


It was really good.

[ludja]

Beautiful milles crepe torte, BryanZ! What did you end up filling it with?

[Megan Blocker]

So we made the mille crepe today that's been all the rage.  Actually my sister made it and I kind of watched.

Yeah, it can be like that. We had three people in the kitchen when I made mine, and we made a whole job of just cleaning the boozy whipped cream out of the bowl...



Looks awesome, Bryan!

[Chufi]

Gorgeous Bryan. My little douze crepe cake stands humbly in the shadow of your achievement!

Suzy, you reminded me I have some buckwheat flour so I think I should make buckwheat crepes too! (in my ongoing quest to "cook from the pantry" )

Grub those crepes look great, lovely browning.

Edited by Chufi, 19 June 2006 - 01:17 PM.

[little ms foodie]

Seafood Crêpes:

So we made the mille crepe today that's been all the rage.  Actually my sister made it and I kind of watched.

Nice job both of you, YUM!! that kindof looks like the perfect dinner with dessert!

Crepes are on the menu for tonight, I've never done them before and will be using just a basic non stick pan I use for omelets. How long do most let their batter rest for?

Wish me luck!!

[jenc]

Not long - 20 mins or so? Sometimes not at all if I'm impatient. I uh.. didn't actually know we had to let it sit until I started reading this thread!

Good luck little ms foodie!

Edited by jenc, 19 June 2006 - 09:56 AM.

[slkinsey]

My experience is that you don't need to let the batter rest as long if you make it in the blender. Just long enough for the bubbles to come out of it.

[Pam R]

Any suggestions for mixing crêpe batter without a blender? Or should I either beg a blender from a friend with a kitchen, or just wait until I have my own kitchen again?

A whisk with a little elbow grease. I add the liquid slowly, making sure I get rid of all the lumps - then let rest.

This morning a customer told me that she uses an immersion (stick) blender for her batter. I had one of those 'why didn't I think of that?' moments!

[BryanZ]

I filled my mille crepe with a triple sec infused pastry cream. Since my sister was making it she freaked out when she the whole thing seized up after adding the corn starch. We thought it had curdled for a second, then it suddenly dawned on us.

It's a pretty time consuming recipe, I had her wake up early to assemble it but very, very tasty. And I usually don't even like cake.

[jeniac42]

My little sister (who's 22) has been asking me to make crepes for her for a few weeks now, but there just hasn't had time. Thanks, eGullet, for cookoff-induced impetus to actually make them for her!

I don't think she'd like the mille crepes (picky eater - everything has to be exactly the way she imagines it, which is fine), but I certainly think I'll just make a big stack of crepes (wagon fulla pamcakes?) and give that a go, because it looks absolutely amazing.

[Megan Blocker]

I filled my mille crepe with a triple sec infused pastry cream.  Since my sister was making it she freaked out when she the whole thing seized up after adding the corn starch.  We thought it had curdled for a second, then it suddenly dawned on us.

It's a pretty time consuming recipe, I had her wake up early to assemble it but very, very tasty.  And I usually don't even like cake.

You know what, my friend Miles said the same thing. He's not usually a big cake eater, but he loves the mille crepes. It's like a cake for people who hate cake!

Same thing happened to me the first time I made pastry cream.

[miladyinsanity]

I filled my mille crepe with a triple sec infused pastry cream.  Since my sister was making it she freaked out when she the whole thing seized up after adding the corn starch.  We thought it had curdled for a second, then it suddenly dawned on us.

It's a pretty time consuming recipe, I had her wake up early to assemble it but very, very tasty.  And I usually don't even like cake.

Bryan, your sister really loves you. Because if I were your sister, I would have shot you.

I may test out my mom's new cast-iron pan with a crepe recipe. I'm drooling over the Mille Crepes.

[Pam R]

Dinner tonight was Cheese Blintzes (Jewish Crepes?).

Started making the rounds. Batter is very thin - eggs, water, salt and just a little potato starch. Using a small, nonstick pan - lightly brushed with oil every other time.

They're only cooked on one side at this point, then turned onto a baking sheet, cooked side-up, between layers of wax paper. Unlike other crepes, these will stick together and tear easily.

Filling is mixed with a paddle - ricotta, dry cottage cheese, an egg, salt and a little sugar:

Roll up some filling in each round (fold the ends in, or you'll have cheese everywhere). The outsides of the rolled blintzes are the uncooked side - so now they must be browned (also allowing the filling to heat through). In a mix of butter and canola oil:

And served with sour cream and strawberries in syrup (as they must be):

[maggiethecat]

Pam. there ought to be a law. Those blintzes deserve an accolade I bestow rarely: Food Porn.

[little ms foodie]

thank you everyone for the info. I used a 9" non stick pan that we use for omelettes.

My batter had some green onion pieces in it so it tasted a bit like the chinese green onion pancakes!

the first one, it was pretty and I got the flip thing pretty quick but it wasn't browned and it was too thick!



the next one was better



I did a little butter with each one with my silicon brush

finally I had a nice little stack of about 13!



this is them as a 'short stack'. there are layers of shredded chicken with homemade balsamic bbq sauce



sorry for the blur, I got the coleslaw but the short stack got blurred out! anyway very yummy!



so I have some in the freezer, it's ok?? how long and how do I defrost and re serve them??

GREAT cook off- I have always been scared to death of crepes.

[snowangel]

So, should Peter and I make a mess of these tomorrow (double entrenre indended), when we freezer them, does one put parchment paper or something between each crepe? Peter and I will pick berries in the morning, buy a few plants, and then he said to me "let's cook sometthing new!" Is it a problem if the batter rests for a few hours?

Edited to add: Peter has seen The Cake. He thinks it looks "unhealty" but thinks that unhealty periodically might be a good idea, and if we eat a mess of berries, we will have undone what we have done.

[Abra]

From everything I've read, the batter should rest at least one, and even several hours. It apparently has to do with the hydration of the flour, thus the tenderness and tensile strength of the finished crepe. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

And Susan, I see that crepes sold frozen at the store have paper between, so that's what I'd do, although the stack I refrigerated for a day didn't stick together at all. I'm almost ready to try another batch - the ones above are looking so beautiful.

[Ling]

From everything I've read, the batter should rest at least one, and even several hours.  It apparently has to do with the hydration of the flour, thus the tenderness and tensile strength of the finished crepe.  Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

I think you're right...I've seen lots of recipes that say the crepe batter should be left to rest overnight. I remember watching a Tyler Florence show where he went to Europe to learn how to make crepes Suzette from a chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and the chef also said to let the batter rest overnight.

Edited by Ling, 19 June 2006 - 10:39 PM.

[Lori in PA]

I made crepes yesterday, in honor of the cook-off, thinking they'd be a nice vehicle for using up some leftover chicken and ham. I cooked the crepes in the morning, got very busy working outside in the afternoon, and rushed into the kitchen when it was suppertime NOW. I made a thick bechamel and added in the diced meat and a couple of roasted carrots I found in the bowl with the leftover chicken. I didn't have time to make pretty rolls, so I just layered the crepes with the filling in a casserole dish and baked like that til it was heated through. Everyone enjoyed it, though I missed the prettiness of the rolled crepes. (My batter rested a couple of hours in the fridge, but I can't tell any appreciable difference than when I use it immediately. Also, I don't use a blender -- I just whisk with everything I've got.)

[Chufi]

From everything I've read, the batter should rest at least one, and even several hours.  It apparently has to do with the hydration of the flour, thus the tenderness and tensile strength of the finished crepe.  Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

I think you're right...I've seen lots of recipes that say the crepe batter should be left to rest overnight. I remember watching a Tyler Florence show where he went to Europe to learn how to make crepes Suzette from a chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and the chef also said to let the batter rest overnight.

While this does make sense (and Harold McGee says the batter for crepes shold stand an hour or more "to allow proteins and damaged starch to absorb water and air bubbles to rise and escape"... ) I have also seen recipes from sources that I trust, that say it does not really matter much for the final product wether the batter rests or not.
I am rarely organized enough to make batter ahead of time. Although, to contradict myself, I have a buckwheat batter in the fridge right now, resting

btw McGee also says that minimal whisking is key to achieve a delicate tender crepe. Minimal stirring = less gluten development.

So, maybe we can conclude, that the more you whisk, the longer the batter should rest to relax the gluten again?

[jenc]

So this was the day after I made the mille crèpe. I had leftobers, but I was seriously craving some cheesy spinachy goodness, so:

Spinach cooked with garlic, chopped thick-cut bacon, mushrooms (sautéed in the bacon fat!), and chunks of camberzola


and more crèpes from that brunch: with icecream and apple filling (flickr) | artsy shot of a strawberry/banana filling (flickr)

Edited by jenc, 20 June 2006 - 07:25 AM.