Classic French crêpes served as a natural-light editorial food photograph
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Classic French crêpes

Thin, tender crêpes with a smooth warm-milk batter and buttery edges, suitable for sweet or savoury fillings.

Prep12 min
Cook20 min
Rest20 min
Servings12
Cook mode

Adapted from Fast & Easy Recipes

Ingredients

Written for a 24 cm pan

Units
Temperature
Servings
12
  • 225 g plain flour
  • 38 g sugar
  • 2 g fine salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 500 ml warm whole milk
  • 45 g unsalted butter, melted, for the batter
  • 15 g unsalted butter, for the pan
  • 5 ml vanilla extract

Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.

Method

  1. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and make a well. Add the eggs.
  2. Whisk in the warm milk gradually, adding only half at first to create a thick, lump-free batter before thinning with the rest.
  3. Whisk in the 45 g of melted butter for the batter, and the vanilla. Rest 20 minutes.
  4. Heat a 24 cm crêpe pan or skillet over medium-high and wipe it with a little of the butter for the pan. Add about 65 ml batter and immediately swirl it into a thin layer.
  5. Cook until the surface turns matte and the edge lifts and browns, about 45 seconds. Flip and cook another 20 to 30 seconds. Repeat with the rest of the batter, wiping the pan with butter every second or third crêpe. Twelve crêpes take about 20 minutes.

Notes

  • The gradual addition of milk is what keeps the batter smooth.
  • The first crêpe calibrates the pan and batter thickness.
  • Reduce the sugar to 5 g and omit vanilla for fully savoury crêpes.

Sources consulted

Good with

Sources consulted

Metric quantities and home-kitchen instructions normalized from the video description and demonstrated method.

From Christoph Mayer

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