sugar butter crepes, thin enough to see light through
Ingredients · tap to check
- 125 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) whole milk
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) water
- 30 g (2 Tbsp) butter, melted, plus more for the pan
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- granulated sugar, for finishing
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
- berries and jam, to serve
- earl grey and milk, to serve
The Way
- Make a well in the flour, crack the eggs into the middle and start whisking from the centre outward. Working from the centre is what keeps it lump-free - dumping everything in at once is where lumps come from.
- Pour the milk in slowly, still whisking, then the water, the melted butter, the sugar and salt. It should run off the whisk in a thin satin ribbon, closer to cream than to pancake batter. If it coats the whisk, add water a tablespoon at a time.
- Rest the batter 1 hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge. This is the step people skip and it is the one that matters - the flour hydrates and the gluten relaxes, which is why rested batter tears less and cooks more tender.
- Heat a crepe pan or a low-sided skillet over medium. Melt a little butter and swirl it to a gold foam. Wipe out the excess with a paper towel so only a film stays behind, or the first crepe fries instead of setting.
- Ladle in just enough batter to coat the base, lifting and swirling the pan at the same time so it spreads paper-thin before it sets. Accept that the first one is a write-off. It always is - it calibrates the heat and the ladle size.
- Cook 45 to 60 seconds until the edge goes lacy and lifts away easily and the underside is speckled gold. Flip and give it 20 to 30 seconds more. The second side never colours as evenly, and that side goes down on the plate.
- Snow sugar over the hot crepe so it melts into the butter and glistens, then fold it in half and in half again into a soft fan.
- Stack the folded crepes on a warm plate, tuck a lemon wedge beside them and set out berries and a small pot of jam. Pour earl grey and let the milk bloom up through it.
- Eat them straight away while the sugar is still wet. Crepes go leathery as they cool, so if you are making the full batch, stack them under a clean tea towel and sugar each one as it hits the plate.
midnight tip. three things decide whether these come out paper-thin. the batter has to pour like cream, not like pancake mix, so thin it with water until it does. it has to rest at least an hour. and the pan needs only a film of butter, wiped back with a towel, because a pool of butter fries the batter into something thicker and stiffer. the first crepe still will not work, and that is not a failure - it is the test crepe that tells you the heat is right.
Questions
why is the first crepe always bad?
because the pan is not calibrated yet. the temperature is still settling and you have not felt out how much batter the pan takes. every crepe cook in the world eats the first one standing up. from the second on they come out even.
can I skip the resting hour?
you can cook it right away and it will taste fine, but it will tear more and feel slightly rubbery. the rest lets the flour absorb the liquid and the gluten relax. if you are short on time, 30 minutes gets you most of the benefit.
my crepes are thick - what went wrong?
almost always batter that is too thick or a pan that is not hot enough. the batter should run off the whisk in a thin ribbon; add water a spoonful at a time until it does. and swirl while you pour, not after, or it sets before it spreads.
do I have to use a crepe pan?
no. any low-sided nonstick or well-seasoned skillet works - low sides just make it easier to swirl and to get a spatula under the edge. a deep pan traps steam and softens the lacy edge, which is the part worth having.
(this one was CREPE) — it finds your DMs.
More midnight meals
the prompt format behind them →
@jens_midnightkitchen