Crêpe Expectations

The Saturday Morning Meal can be quite a production at our house – it’s the only day of the week we have time for a “luxury” breakfast. So when Chloé came home from France with her recipe for Pâte à Crêpes Sucrée, her crêpes immediately made the Saturday Top Ten List. The recipe is simple: roughly 2 cups of milk, 3 eggs, 1 cup of flour, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoon of vanilla-infused sugar (the recipe also calls for 2 tablespoons of rum, but never mind that at breakfast time…).

After you whip up the recipe, things start to get complicated. First, the batter has to sit there for an hour so that the proteins can do something scientific in the bowl, and they like to take their time about it, thank you very much. This is apparently very important to the success of your end result. After that, it’s all about technique. Deft wrist action is needed for spreading out the perfect thinness of the crêpe. Flipping over the crêpe at the perfect moment of doneness without tearing it requires a level of dexterity I certainly never possessed, but Chloé’s got it down.

Since Wynham is about to be crowned King of the Perfect Single Fried Egg, I got all excited about trying my hand at the savory version of the crêpe, made with buckwheat flour. Everything seemed to be going all right until I attempted to fold my crêpe into that just-opened-flower shape that Jaques Pépin makes so effortlessly – mine looked more like a crushed soda can. C’est la vie…

Well, I don’t need to tell you what the kitchen looks like after all this fun, especially with Claire and Jack “helping”. This is a good time to get very philosophical about the merits and methods of house cleaning (I start by closing my eyes and taking deep breaths). So when Wynham asks, just a little plaintively, “Mom, can we please just have buttermilk pancakes for breakfast this Saturday?” I’m quick to respond “Of course!” Flapjacks, I can do.