J’Adore Crepes
By Ness on February 18, 2008 | Desserts
As a kid the crepe was a mysterious dessert that would show up on random occasions in our house in the form of crepe suzette. I remember my mother arriving in the dining room, lights dimmed to create the dramatic atmosphere, with a silver platter aflame. Once the alcohol burned off we were served up some crepes and a side of whipped cream. I can’t say that I really loved their bitter orange flavor but I did love the spectacle of it all. When I got older the crepe suzette seemed to no longer make appearance at family dinners so I pretty much forgot all about crepes. It was not until I was working in Upper Montclair that I rediscovered the sensual crepe. There was a great little crepe shop that we would order from on Saturdays for a late afternoon snack. My favorite was the lemon crepe covered in butter and confectioners sugar. I grew a bit of an addiction to them and was rather sad to move onto a job in Milburn where the crepes were “subparâ€. It got even worse when I moved to Pennsylvania. On my ever growing list of missing culinary delights I sadly had to add crepes as there were no crepe shops anywhere in the general area. One day I decided I should make my own crepes so I sought out a crepe maker and some recipes. I did manage to make some but they were dry, misshaped, and rather bland. I tried a few more times and then I sent the crepe maker off to the land of misfits toys in the back of my pantry. Then I received my diagnosis…cue the crepe shop opening around the corner from my job. Go figure. The thought of trying to make gluten free crepes really did not cross my mind until I watched an episode of “Throwdown with Bobby Flay†where he challenged these two hip ladies who work out of an Airstream trailer making fabulous crepes. At the end of the show my mind was made up to attempt the construction of the gluten free crepe. I reached deep into my bucket of defunct kitchen gadgets and found my crepe maker. Using a few recipes as guides I put together a gluten free version…and it actually worked and tasted fantastic! The recipe makes a basic crepe with a hint of vanilla so you can pretty much add whatever topping you want to them.
Basic Crepes
Ingredients
1 scant cup WW gluten free flour mix
¼ cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
Half of vanilla bean
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 ¾ cups milk
3 eggs
Equipment
Sifter
Crepe Maker
Hand Mixer
Mixing Bowl
Shallow bowl that crepe maker will fit in
Sift flour, xanthan gum, salt, and sugar into mixing bowl. Using the hand mixer on low speed add eggs one at a time only adding the next egg when the previous one is well incorporated (batter will stick and twist slightly around the beaters). Scrape inside of vanilla bean and add scrapings to the mixture. Add the melted butter. Add milk slowly until it is well combined with the flour mixture and has a creamy consistency. If batter is too thick add a touch more milk to thin it out.
Allow mixture to sit at room temperature for about an hour.
Warm up the crepe maker. Pour batter into shallow dish. When crepe maker is warm dip it into the batter lift and then dip again (this will ensure a slighter thicker crepe). When the edges look slightly brown (about 45 seconds), carefully lift and turn over the crepe (this will take some practice) to cook on the other side (about 20 seconds). Remove and place on a cool plate.
Serve with whatever you want! I fancy bananas and caramel sauce with mine.