Crepes

Intro 

Take note bambini: crepes are completely different to pikelets and you cannot use the same batter recipe and just make it thinner. It took me ages to learn that lesson and I share it with you now. The secret to crepes is all in the technique and patience with the batter. I got this recipe from a Julie Biuso book back in the 80s. Its good for sweet or savoury fillings. I love it with caramelised mango, bananas or pineapple. 

Recipe

• 115g flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk
• 300ml of milk plus a bit more (maybe)
• 1 tablespoon melted butter

Sift the four and salt in a bowl, make a well in the middle and tip the eggs in. With a whisk start stirring gently drawing the flour in from the edges - at the same time start adding the milk in a thin stream keeping the mixture a thick cream consistency. Continue adding all the milk and the melted butter. Whisk well then set aside for at least 30 minutes. This does something to the starch particles and is important. You may need to add a bit more milk as it does thicken on standing. 
Heat a heavy based pan and lightly oil the pan with a papertowel. Once the oil starts to smoke pour in about a quarter cup of batter and quickly swirl it around tipping the excess batter back into the bowl. It should form bubbles quite quickly. loosen the edges with a palette knife then flip the crepe over for half a minute or so. Tip it out onto a rack and keep making crepes. They are pretty fast to cook and if I make a double quantity of this I interleave the hot ones with the ones cooked earlier to keep them warm.