Sunday, January 10, 2010

Crepes! Not Pancakes...

So I thought I had finally found a recipe for making pancakes without salt or baking soda, when actually I found myself making Crepes instead. Halfway through the mixture I realized the consistency was wayyy too thin for pancakes. Good thing I realized that and then I started rooting through our fridge and pantry for filling possibilities. For the first crepe, I used bananas and hershey's syrup, sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. I also made a white eggs and cheese crepe, a goat chese crepe (with cranberries), and a peanut butter and chocolate crepe. They all turned out well! The only thing was that the mess to clean up was a bit much, because of all the different fillings that I tried out.

Here is the recipe link. Here is the actual recipe just in case the link stops working:


Basic Recipe - makes about 12 pancakes

Ingredients
•4 oz (110g) plain flour
•2 medium free-range eggs
•200 ml milk
•75 ml cold water
•butter or vegetable oil, for frying the pancakes
•salt to taste
Method
1.Take a large mixing bowl and sift the flour into it through a sieve. Don't be tempted to skip this part - not only does it get rid of any lumps, it also helps get air into the pancakes so they will be light. Add the salt - a pinch should be fine.
2.Make a well in the centre of the flour and crack the eggs into the bowl. Whisk everything together until the eggs are fully incorporated into the flour.
3.Mix the water and the milk together. If you are using skimmed milk, you could simply use 275 ml of milk as this has a more watery texture anyway. Gradually pour the liquid into the bowl, continuing to whisk as you do so. Make sure all the flour is completely mixed in, and continue whisking until the batter is smooth and runny.
4.Heat your frying pan over quite a high heat - you can use whatever size you have, but an 18cm pan will produce around 12 pancakes which, more importantly, are big enough to hold plenty of filling. Add a little butter or oil and turn the heat down to medium.
5.Once the butter has melted, or the oil moves quickly around the pan when you tip it, you can cook your first pancake. Spoon about two tablespoons of the batter into the pan and immediately tip the pan gently but quickly so that a thin layer of the batter is spread evenly over the whole surface of the pan. The first side should take around half a minute to cook; flip it over and allow the other side to cook for 10 -15 seconds and then the pancake should be done (you may have to allow a little longer if your pan wasn't quite hot enough).
6.Continue in this way until all the batter is used up, adding a little more butter or oil to the pan every so often as required.
7.You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven until the are needed - layer them between greaseproof paper to stop them sticking to each other.
Pancake Fillings - Savoury
•Ham and grated cheese
•Garlic mushrooms - gently fry some mushrooms in a pan with a little garlic-infused olive oil and a splash of red wine
Pancake Fillings - Sweet
•Traditional - a squeeze of lemon and a spinkling of sugar
•Sliced banana and a spoonful of honey
•Chocolate - either a spread such as Nutella, or a bar such as a crumbled Flake

I'll upload the pictures as soon as I have time. I had a great time making these crepes :)

Do you have any good ideas for crepe filling?

No comments:

Post a Comment