Recently I have been shocked to hear that many people struggle to make crepes. I know that they can be hard to get the right consistency, but once you find the right recipe you are set up for life. They can be eaten for breakfast with jams, brunch, or dessert with exquisite sauces, yoygurt, ice-cream or fruit. They are a cooking basic that everyone should have in their cookbook.
I have decided to share my secret recipe (which is actually Bill Granger's not-so-secret recipe from "Bill's Food" page 22).
You do not need to use the ricotta filling or sauce but choose to use the basic crepe recipe to enjoy as you like. I have created some other delicious crepe sauces that I will add on a later date and you can use those if you wish.
This recipe makes approx. 4 crepes, which is enough for 1-2 people but if you want more simply double the recipe.
Basic Crepes:
90g (3/4 cup) plain (all purpose) flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
250 (1 cup) milk
20g (3/4 oz) butter, melted
a pinch of salt
extra butter, for greasing the pan
Ricotta Filling:
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons sultanas
250g (1 cup) ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons icing (confectioners') sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
To Serve:
icing (confectioners') sugar, for dusting
bitter orange sauce (below)
To prepare the crepes, put flour in a large bowl, add the egg, milk, melted butter and salt and whisk until smooth. Refrigerate for 2 hours before cooking.
(Refrigeration is in the original recipe but I have made it loads of times and while it is good to refrigerate it is far far essential and I find that the recipe can work just as well if you cook it straight away. You have to decide how much time you have).
While the crepe batter is resting, prepare the filling by heating the milka nd ultanas in a small saucepan over a low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the milk and sultanas to a bowl, add the ricotta, lemon zest, icing sugar and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and brush a little butter over th base (I usually just drop into the pan a small amount of butter, enough to light touch the whole base of the pan-careful not to do too much because otherwise they will be really grasy and holey).
Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan (I usually put about 4 tablespoons because I tend to make bigger crepes but you should judge depending on the size of your pan) and tip the pan slightly to quickly and evenly spread the batter. After a minute, lift the outer edge of the crepe (you can also shake th epan a little to loosen it and make sure it doesn't stick) abd flip it over and cook for about 5-10 seconds on the other side. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each crepe. Fold the crepe into quarters (I like to roll it into a roll with the ricotta filling in the middle). Crepes can be made in advance up until this stage.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and brush with butter. Put the filled and folded crepes into the pan and cook for about 30 seconds on each side Place two crpes on each serving plate, dust with icing sugar and drizzle with sauce.
The bitter oange sauce is optional, even with this recipe, but I find it adds a lovely acidic and zesty taste to a creamy filling.
Bitter Orange Sauce:
80g (1/4 cup) good quality orange marmalade
60ml (1/4 cup) orange juice
1 tablespoon brandy or Grand Marnier (optional)
Put the marmalade, orange juice and brandy or Grand Marnier, if using, in a small saucepan over a low heat and stir until the marmalade has melted. Serve with the recipe.
Enjoy for breakfast, brunch or dessert! I will be adding more recipes soon and I will be heading off to Dubai on the 28th December so I'll have a lot of adventures to blog about! Keep posted!
xxx
Queen of Diamonds
