Sweet Crêpes

Ingredients

Makes ~15 crêpes

• 375g all-purpose white flour
• 40g white sugar
• 40g butter
• 4 eggs
• 2 pinches of salt
• 750g whole milk
• Beer, 3 fl oz (¼ standard bottle)
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract

To cook:

• Vegetable oil of your choice
• ½ potato

Batter

Melt the butter over very low heat.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt. Whip in the eggs, then the melted butter, milk, beer and finally the vanilla extract. Let rest for 2~3 hours at ambient temperature.

The Potato Trick

In a bowl, pour some of the vegetable oil. Stick a fork in the half potato and dip it in the bowl.

The flat surface of the potato makes it ideal to evenly coat the pan with just a touch of oil. You should re-oil the pan before each pour of the batter.

Cook

Heat a 12" non-stick pan under high heat and let it run hot for a 4~5 minutes. Lower the heat under the pan to ¾ heat before the first pour. Adjust the heat throughout the cooking of the crêpes so that each one takes roughly 3 minutes end-to-end.

Pour a laddle of batter and then work the pan to spread batter in a circle that covers the full surface of the pan. Flip the crêpe when the underneath is golden, which should take about 1m 30s. Flip it and cook the other side for 1 minute or so. Repeat unil the batter is gone.

Toppings

As far as toppings go, the familiar options are definitely always good ideas: hazelnut spread, fresh fruits, honey, jam. If you feel a little more creative, here are some ideas to inspire you:

• Yogurt, a touch of sugar and lemon juice
• Roasted peaches and honey
• Make candied walnuts and have them over a chestnut spread
• Flambée bananas with rum and spice them with nutmeg