Comforting Candlemas Crêpes
2nd February is the traditional end of the Christmas period, better known as Candlemas.
In Belgium and France it is also known as “pannenkoekendag” or “jour des crêpes” (i.e. crêpe day!). I won’t delve much further into ecclesiastical traditions here but I can assure you that a fluffy crêpe is a lovely way to forget the February drudgery.
Ingredients
The amounts below will easily satiate the lunch needs of two big eaters.
120 grams of flour
30 grams of sugar (plain white or caster)
340 ml of milk (whole milk makes them richer but I personally prefer to use semi-skimmed)
2 eggs
a whole vanilla pod or 5 drops of extract (pod preferred!)
40 grams of butter
pinch of salt
Method
Mix all the ingredients save the butter in a bowl and mix well with a whisk. This is not an “Anglo-Saxon style” pancake batter, don’t be afraid to overmix, mix it diligently until the batter is a smooth uniform liquid.
Just before you start cooking, melt the butter in the microwave or a little pan. Once fully melted, pour it into the batter and give it a good stir. Don’t do this yet if you’re making the batter somewhat in advance as the butter will start clumping as it cools down.
Now get a pan on the hob and melt in some butter or heat up some oil. Yes, oil. I know a lot of people will say it is sacrilege to do so but I prefer some neutral oil to fry my crêpes in as it reduces the risk of burning. If you’re going to use butter, try to get clarified butter as it will also reduce the risk of burned solids.
Now wait until the pan is nice and hot. The cliché that the first pancake/crêpe always fails is mostly due to the pan not being up to the correct temperature yet. I use a cast iron pan so I first get it up to high and then lower it to medium. If you’re using a non-stick or carbon you might just want to stay around the medium to medium-high range.
When you think your pan is hot pour in a ladle of batter and give it a swirl. Don’t panic if it doesn’t immediately coat the entire pan. I use a palette knife to spread everything out evenly. It’s up to you to determine how thick you want the crêpes to be. Very thin will make them light and crispy, thicker will make them soft and succulent. It’s a matter of taste, play around with it!
Let the first side fry until the side facing you has completely dried up. Then start gently probing with the palette knife (if you have one). Once you can feel that none of the parts stick to the pan you can give it a flip. The duration of the this will depend on how thick you’re making them. I find the sweet spot to be between two and three minutes.
Fry the other side for half the amount of time you let the first side fry for.
Slide the crêpe onto a plate and cover with your desired topping. If you’re batch frying them for a larger group I recommend you stack them on a plate in the oven (set to the lowest setting or even just the light) covered with another plate of the same size.
A little note on toppings
You can of course put whatever you want on your crêpes. However, I do want to point out that this recipe is for sweet crêpes and I do advise against eating with bacon or a fried egg. What does work very well these is any type of syrup or sugar, jam, chocolate spread and whipped cream.
