Fake A Crepe Easily By Using Tortillas
Don't let the delicate nature of crepes prevent you from enjoying this elegant dish at home. Although the meal can be intimidating to prepare until you've mastered the batter and technique, there's a great hack that lets you fake it until you make it.
Crepes are easier to make than they seem. Still, the ultra-thin pancake can be effortlessly replicated using store-bought flour tortillas. Traditional flour tortillas are made with all-purpose flour, salt, lard, and water. Similarly, basic crepe batter contains the same ingredients, plus eggs and milk. Neither recipe contains a leavener or sweetener, making them adaptable to fill with sweet or savory ingredients.
To make a faux crepe, you just need to combine flour tortillas with the missing crepe ingredients: eggs and dairy. Whisk together the room temperature eggs and milk while a skillet preheats over medium-high heat. It's essential that the ingredients aren't cold and the tortilla is fresh in order to absorb the custard for this hack to be successful. Dip each tortilla in the egg mixture, coating both sides, before frying in melted butter until lightly golden brown, roughly two minutes per side. Add more butter to the pan before frying another "crepe." Whether you are rolling or folding them, you will be amazed at how good these treats turn out.
Savory and sweet crepe fillings to try
Whether making them from scratch or using the clever tortilla hack, there are unlimited ways to fill a crepe. In parts of the world, crepes are a typical street food. The giant paper-thin pancakes are filled and folded into quarters so you can walk around while enjoying noshing. These handheld crepes are commonly filled with a sweet spread like Nutella or chocolate syrup and topped with sliced strawberries or bananas.
As dessert, crepes often get fancier, requiring a fork and sometimes a fire-resistant dinner jacket as in the case of Crepes Suzette. Prepared tableside to appreciate the theatrics, this traditional French dessert soaks delicate crepes in an orange-flavored butter sauce containing Grand Marnier or Cointreau. In restaurants, the crepes are added to the caramelized sauce and flambésed to burn off the alcohol.
Another recipe for caramelized banana crepes isn't as showy, but every bit as delicious, garnished with pistachios and drizzled with honey. A crepe cake or mille crepe cake is an impressive way to prepare the dessert in advance. Dozens of crepes are stacked and layered with different fillings, like pastry cream. Then, the dessert is assembled in a springform pan 12 hours in advance to allow the cake to set.
When serving for lunch or dinner, use savory ingredients to prepare crepes with caramelized onion, smoked bacon, sliced apples, and Comté cheese. Or fill them with shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken, goat cheese, and sauteed spinach for an easy weeknight meal.
More tips for making French crepes
Whether filled with sweet or savory toppings, crepes are so versatile that you can serve them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert. You can even make crepes with stale bread to reduce kitchen waste. If you find the task daunting, there are a few tips to help you prepare them like a pro in no time.
Crepe batter should be thin and free of lumps. Placing the ingredients in a blender is the best way to achieve the ideal texture. Like preparing fake crepes, all the ingredients should be at room temperature. Once mixed, the batter must rest for at least 30 minutes to release air bubbles formed during blending and relax the gluten so the results are tender. Day-old batter yields better crepes, so if you have the time, prepare the batter the night before, giving the flour time to absorb the liquids, thereby thickening the batter. Just bring it to room temperature before frying.
Traditionally, crepes are made on a flat electric surface or a special crepe pan, which makes it easier to evenly spread the batter thinly and flip it without tearing. If you don't have a suitable skillet, try Duff Goldman's upside-down pan hack to make perfect crepes. Instead of ladling the batter into a nonstick skillet, Goldman dips the bottom of the pan into the batter and cooks it inverted on the stove. The crepes cook quicker and don't require flipping with this technique.