Contrary to the fluffy, thick American pancakes, these crepes are thin and larger.  The French called them ‘Crepes’, the Dutch ‘Pannenkoeken’ and the Swedish ‘Pannkaka’.

I have no idea why I felt like Crepes this morning, but I woke up today and for some reason I was tempted to pick up my whisk and dive into my pantry for flour and such.

For this recipe I use the expected ingredients such as flour, egg and milk but I also add on some oil and salt.  I add on the salt to enhance the sweetness and the oil to make the pancakes a little smoother and tastier. Alternatively, you can also use a teaspoon of melted butter.

Here is my simple recipe for basic crepes!

Ingredients:

• 200gr self raising flour
• 5dl milk
• 2 whole egg
• pinch of salt
• squirt of oil
• 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla sugar or a cap of vanilla extract

Method:

Take a large bowl and sieve the flour through so you remove any possible lumps.  Add the egg and the milk and whisk until all the lumps are gone.  Add on the vanilla sugar or vanilla extract, the oil and the salt and mix well.

Put a pan on a high heat, and melt a little butter in it, enough to cover the full base of the pan. Before adding on a ladle of batter, just enough to cover the base of the pan, make sure your pan is piping hot.  Once the underside is set and lightly browned, turn over the pancake with a wide spatula. If you’re not a novice, you can also try to flip the pancake over.  Allow the other side to brown lightly and you are done.

How to flip a pancake:

Once you have put batter in the pan to cover the bottom, let it set.  Pick up the pan and shake it, to see if you can move the pancake.  If you can, you are ready to flip.

Slide the pancake to the near edge of the pan.  Then thrust this edge upwards in a smooth fast motion, so the pancake flies up in front of you.

Step back (if needed) and catch the bottom edge of the pancake on the near side of the pan.  Make it fall backwards as it lands onto its uncooked side.