The 28 best crêpe recipes to celebrate Candlemas Day as the French do

candlemas It is a festival that is celebrated every second of February to commemorate the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Like all festivities, it is associated with different gastronomic customs: in many Andalusian towns bonfires are lit that are used to grill meat on the grill, in Mexico they eat tamales and in France, one of the places where it is most celebrated, is the crêpe making day

Although today is a Catholic holiday, the celebration of Candelaria has, like almost all, pagan origins and was associated with peasant beliefs. It was said that if crêpes were not made on Candlemas day to use the surplus wheat before the new harvests, it would rot.

As he explains to us Françoise Vielcazat, As a veteran French teacher living in Spain, tradition calls for turning the first crêpe over while holding the handle of the pan with a gold coin. It is for this reason that many French families keep a gold Louis or Napoleon that is passed down from generation to generation. This first crêpe is not eatenbut it is placed on top of a cupboard –place or project with the frying pan, as Vielcazat does– until next year, as it brings good luck.

Basic crêpe dough

Esoteric customs aside, today is a good day like any other to start making crêpes, much easier to make than it seems. The beauty of this traditional French dish, with its variations in different countries, is that it starts from a very basic but tremendously versatile recipe. We can make them to taste, adjusting the size, thickness and playing with ingredients and aromas. Breakfast, lunch, dessert, snack or dinner, sweet or salty; The possibilities are almost endless and the limit is only set by our imagination. Once the basic dough is mastered, you will not want to stop making them. And, as you will see, it is very simple.

• Ingredients for 8 units: 2 eggs, 110 g of pastry flour, 240 ml of milk, 15 ml of sugar (if we are going to make sweet crêpes), 2 g of salt, lemon zest to taste, vanilla essence to taste, butter or sunflower oil .

• Elaboration: The crêpe batter can be prepared with a stick blender or in the glass of a blender used for milkshakes. With ordinary manual rods they also work well. It is best to prepare the batter in a large jug so that it can be poured directly onto the pan afterwards; it is much more practical. Arrange the eggs in the container that we use and add the milk, salt, sugar, lemon or vanilla zest -if we use- and beat well. Add the sifted flour and beat vigorously until there are no lumps. Cover and let rest for at least 30 minutes -better one hour-, in the fridge if it’s hot or let it go longer. Grease a good non-stick pan or crepe pan with neutral oil or melted butter. A good trick is to use half a potato for this, which we use to grease the pan without going overboard. Heat until it reaches a good temperature. Pour a portion of the dough in the center (about 60 ml), holding the pan off the heat with the other hand, and turn quickly to spread it over the entire surface. Lower the temperature a little and cook for one or two minutes, until the edges are golden brown and peel off. Flip with a thin spatula, being careful not to break the dough, and brown for half a minute or one more minute on the other side. Remove to a plate and continue with the rest of the dough until finished. Keep covered with a clean cloth or plastic wrap so that they keep the heat and do not dry out. If we have turned on the oven that day we can take advantage of the residual heat to keep them warm when serving.

The 28 best crêpes recipes

The crêpes can be filled with whatever we have on hand, and They are delicious in sweet or salty version. Here we leave you, however, the best recipes that we have been publishing during all these years.

salty crêpes

This recipe for savory crêpes with mushrooms and ham with béchamel is ideal if we are going to make our entire menu revolve around crêpes. On the one hand we prepare the filling, on the other hand we make a stack of crêpes and then we fill and finish off the ones we need for the diners.

The chicken is an excellent filling for savory crêpes for its light flavor that goes so well with everything. Try the chicken, corn and leek crêpes, a very delicate combination or the roasted chicken with tomato and emmental that you have in the photo.

If you have a little more budget, or for special festivities such as Christmas, you can prepare these savory sirloin crêpes with caramelized onion, a dish that the whole family will celebrate for its texture and flavor.

My dear’s ham and provolone cheese crêpes do not disappoint either liliana, and that many dinners will solve you, so as not to always fall into the repeated mixed sandwich… where does it end? Quite a difference, right?

Another good idea is to use the crêpes to make use recipes like these minced meat crêpes, which you can also make with leftover meatball preparation, bolognese sauce, stuffing for fajitas and burritos or any other mixture of minced meat, tomato and vegetables.

If you want something original, try these asparagus and brie crêpes, ideal for an elegant dinner, like the ones we did between the dates indicated and family Christmas banquets. Along the same lines, we love the prawn and spinach crêpes with basil oil.

Finally, we love these gazpacho crêpes stuffed with ham with which Liliana surprised us, and those of us who have tried them at home can recommend them.

Original formats of savory crêpes

With crêpes we can do almost anything. From using them to make burritos substituting corn tortillas for crêpe dough, to making crêpe dough rolls stuffed with cheese and bresaola and cutting a kind of maki or even making cannelloni with crêpe dough. Isn’t it true that you are craving?.

Although it is not the same, you can also make crêpe dough in a vegan version, using chickpea flour.

sweet crêpes

Your mouth is definitely watering with the recipe for these applesauce and salted caramel crêpes that she made Esther long time. I can only say one thing… try to do them that you are going to love.

Sweet crêpes, from the classic crêpes suzzette to these crêpes with mascarpone and raspberry, are perfect for sweetening our lives, as a dessert, snack or breakfast. You also have to try these other crêpes with banana and apricot jam, ideal for a weekend breakfast.

For a quick cravingI doubt between the Norman crêpes, stuffed with pippin apple, the crêpes filled with chocolate cream or Nutella, an easy and quick dessert that never disappoints, and the crêpes filled with Catalan cream, with that burnt sugar crust. Which would you take right now?

To surprise, the sweet sushi with crêpe dough, rice pudding and fruit filling that Esther made, I find it original and perfect, even if it is laborious but the one that is undoubtedly my favorite is the one with dulce de leche and walnuts. Just looking at the photo I’m already licking my lips.

They are not crêpes but they look alike

There are other preparations that are very much ours, such as pancakes, frixuelos or even pancakes, which although they are not crêpes, are similar in format, ingredients and even in presentations. We did not want to end this compilation without at least remembering to name these recipes:

We hope this has been good for you compilation of 28 crêpe recipes to celebrate Candelaria Day, plus tips and tricks for its preparation and preservation. Now we just need to know your opinion. What have you been craving? Do you want to propose us any other recipe? We look forward to your suggestions.

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