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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 0 Minutes Servings: 12 |
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When she was in her early 20s, my mother worked with a Frenchwoman named Jackie. One day, my mother mentioned that she was looking forward to trying a crêpe recipe that she had found. Only a French person can teach you how to make crêpes, Jackie declared, and the next day she brought in an electric skillet to demonstrate her superlative version for her office mates. My mom knew a good thing when she tasted it, and she promptly appropriated the recipe. When Mom got married, her coworker brought her a crêpe pan from Paris, and it has become beautifully seasoned from nearly 40 years of use. I have many happy memories of weekend brunches, downing six or seven delicious crêpes and fighting with my brother over the last one. I also have happy memories of hours spent at my mom's side, watching her pour the batter into that pan and turn it just so. A few years ago, she gave me a pan of my own, and this recipe is now one of my specialties a favorite request from my boyfriend and our friends. Over time I have experimented, using different liqueurs for flavoring. I still prefer regular brandy, but I have also had great results using two parts bourbon and one part Amaretto, or substituting specialized brandies such as Cognac or fruit-flavored eau-de-vie. Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole milk |
3 large eggs |
3 tablespoons sugar |
1 teaspoon salt |
scant 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted |
1/2 cup brandy |
1 teaspoon vanilla extract |
1 cup all-purpose flour |
additional butter for cooking |
additional sugar or clear jelly such as apple or apricot for serving |
Directions:
1. In a blender, combine milk and eggs. Mix on medium-high speed until foamy, about 10 seconds. Turn blender to low speed and remove feed top. With blender going, add sugar and salt. Replace feed top and blend on high speed for a few seconds, then turn blender back to low. In the same manner, add butter, brandy, and vanilla, replacing feed top and blending for several seconds after each addition. Turn blender off. Add flour all at once and blend until just combined.
2. Place crêpe pan over moderately high heat. With flexible spatula, spread a tiny amount of butter in pan (an alternative method is to brush the pan with melted butter using a pastry brush) and heat until butter just begins to smoke. Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter into the pan. As you pour, quickly tilt the pan in all directions to spread a thin layer of batter across the bottom. Pour in just enough batter to cover the pan.
3. Cook crêpe over moderately high heat until bubbles just begin to form on the exposed surface, about one to two minutes. Lift up the edge to check the cooking process if the crêpe starts to burn before it is cooked through, turn down the heat. If it is not nicely browned after two minutes, turn up the heat.
4. When underside of crêpe is browned, flip and cook another minute or less, until other side is browned. Remove from pan and keep warm in the oven, loosely covered with foil.
5. Grease pan with a very small amount of butter and repeat process. Continue until all batter is used, stacking cooked crêpes on a plate in the oven. To serve, sprinkle each crêpe with sugar or spread with jelly and fold or roll up.
6. Note: Making the batter for these crêpes is relatively easy, but cooking them can be laborious. Once you have a gotten a feel for the procedure (you will probably have to tinker with the heat and cooking time, since every pan behaves slightly differently), you can save time by using two pans at once. Stagger the process so you are pouring the batter into one pan while a crêpe is cooking in the other. This way, you will be able to closely attend to both but will finish in half the time.
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