I was a very little girl once, of course, before being just a girl. It was long ago, far far away from where here now is, where dreams are allowed and do come true and where the rain is always followed by a rainbow and smells heavily of Paris.
There are not so many things I remember, in a hazy shade of gray punctuated by ribbonny strands of pinks and blues, tiny yellow sparkles and soft translucent rain falling from the sky, of my young childhood in a busy suburb of Paris. But I do remember this quite vividly; the French Patisserie shop on the corner of the street, mainly for the porcelain dolls adorned in sumptuous dresses, strands of pearls and strass, pale white noble delicate and fragile skin contrasting softly to candy colored silk and taffeta bows, posing and smiling down at me from every top shelf of the shop.
I would have a delicate chocolate eclair, eyeing with envy the dolls above. We would leave the shop and I would carry the daily baguette, still feeling unsatisfied, with dreams of the porcelain dolls dancing the waltz graciously in my head.
The Parisian Crepe
Ingredients:
- 80g (or 1/3 cup) of toasted butter (see method below and prepare firsthand)
- 6 eggs
- 60g (or 4 tbsp) of sugar
- 250g (or 2 cups + 1/2 cup) plain unbleached flour
- 80g (or 1/3 cup) vegetable oil
- 3/4 litres (or 3 cups) milk
- 1 tbsp orange blossom water or orange juice
Optional: (see lower down)
- Lemon wedges and extra sugar, or
- Honey and Orange Blossom Water, or
- Orange juice and rum, or
- Nutella, and/or Whipped cream, and/or Maple Syrup, fresh fruit
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. The butter will start bubbling as the water is released from the butter. When a fragrant nutty scent starts being present, watch very closely as the toasting will happen fast. Remove the saucepan from the heat as soon as the color is a light caramel. Let cool. There should be particles that are light auburn colored floating in the butter, I like to leave them in but you can pass the melted toasted butter through a sieve to remove them. Your butter will now have a delicious nutty taste and smell.
Making the Crepes:
Mix the eggs with the sugar, then add the oil and cooled toasted butter. Add flour and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon, adding milk slowly first with the wooden spoon then with a hand wisk.
At this point, you can add some Orange Blossom Water and/or a little orange juice, depending on your preferences. You can also add more milk to desired consistency.
Do make sure you use a medium to large skillet in excellent condition. Heat a little piece of butter, swishing it around to cover the bottom of the skillet completely.
Pour in a ladle of dough and gently twist with your wrist holding the skillet, covering bottom of skillet with crepe dough. The crepe will start showing small bubbles and edges may ever so slightly color. Flip over delicately when the crepe can be handled with a spatula without breaking.
* the first crepe is usually thrown away - It will be greasy from absorbing the excess butter ans is often heavy - however it is necessary as it 'prepares' the skillet for the following crepes to be perfect!
In a French café, you would be served these thin crepes with a little powdered sugar and some lemon wedges or alternatively with some strawberry jam. In our family, we like to adorn them with everything from nutella, whipped cream, maple syrup, rum or honey-orange blossom water (my favorite).
The Honey-Orange Blossom Water Syrup Crepes:
In a small saucepan heat 2 parts honey to 1 part orange blossom water. Serve warm over crepes as a syrup.
The Rum Crepes:
As soon as you flip over the crepe, add a generous spoonful of rum. The crepe will boil, absorbing the rum into the batter. As well, you can make a syrup of 1/2 cup orange juice to 1/4 cup part rum and a few tablespoons of sugar. Bring to a boil in small saucepand then keep warm until ready to use as a boozy syrup.
The Kid's All Dressed Up Crepes:
Put a spoonful of nutella in the centre of your crepe, roll up, pour a thin stream of maple syrup over the crepe and add a little whipped cream. Alternatively, add some banana and strawberry slices, or other fruits your kids fancy, inside the crepe with or without the nutella, prior to rolling it up.
The Caramel-Apple Crepes:
In a small sauce pan, add 1/3 cup butter with 1/3 cup sugar and 2 peeled, cored and sliced apples. Heat over medium-high heat. The apples will cook gently while caramelizing. Add this garnish to the centre of your crepe prior to rolling it up. Alternatively, add some cinnamon to the apples while caramelizing
