Crêpes are magical thin dough tortillas typical of French cuisine. For the traditional crêpe, the main ingredients are limited to the mixture of flour, eggs and milk.
There’s even room for creativity when it comes to how many and which ingredients to use, as long as we look for a sweet or salty result. And although the theory on how to make a crêpe does not present too much difficulty… the practice has its complexity.
A good one basic mix of crêpes for 4 people approximately is: 55 g of flour, 1 egg, about 120 ml of liquid, salt (to taste) and 1.5 tablespoons of butter (or olive oil if the dough is for savory crepes). They say that “the order of the ingredients alters the product” and in this case, to avoid lumps and achieve the homogeneous texture desired, initially mix 50% of the dry ingredients with 50% of the wet ingredients.
In a bowl, pour the sifted flour together with the pinch of salt, then add the equivalent weight in liquid, that is, the eggs and milk beaten together. Mix the dough generously and add the rest of the milk and possibly the melted butter.
The flour It is a key ingredient in the elaboration of crêpes. provides protein and starch. The purist version uses wheat flour or pastry flour, even so, it is customary to use buckwheat flour for a gluten-free version. The eggs, for their part, contribute to the final structure, flavor and color.
The lower the number of eggs used in the recipe, there will be about delicate crepes, unlike the more eggs, the thicker they will be. The liquid, whether milk or water, helps mix the ingredients and contributes to the structure of the final tortilla.
Whole milk is the most popular choice for making French crêpes, although low-fat and skim milk are also used for a lighter version. You can replace whole milk with vegetable alternatives such as almond milk, making almond milk crêpes.
There are several ways to flavor the dough of crepes. be sweet ingredients such as vanilla essence (or extract), orange blossom water, or orange or lemon juice, up to a few drops of dark rum or cognac for an alcoholic finish only suitable for those over 18 years of age. for a salty profilethe dough can be flavored with spices such as nutmeg, ground curry and black pepper.
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The crepes are best when made fresh at the moment in a cast iron skillet, but a heavy tortilla pan, which is a little deeper and with less sloping sides, will also work. To get inspired you can serve sweets, stuffed with dulce de leche, fresh fruit or compotes at meal time. breakfast or as a dessert or snack, but they can also be stuffed with ham, cheese, mushrooms, spinach or tomato. For more inspiration, in our recipe book there are endless possible combinations.
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