France Belgium Mission Crepes

The Salem 12th Ward Relief Society invited me to do a crepe-making demonstration for a midweek activity a couple weeks ago, and, because I owe them big time for a long history of gracious acts of support for me and my family, I was very happy to comply. I'm not Emeril Lagasse or Wolfgang Puck or one of those Food Network celebrity chefs, but I do have a certain charm and facility in the kitchen, so the activity went well.

Because the sisters don't have my intuitive je ne sais quoi savoir faire with crepes, initially developed over the course of my two-year mission to France and Belgium, I had to come up with an actual recipe for them. They published it in their weekly newsletter, so I thought I'd publish it on my long dormant blog. There's nothing like a little French cooking to resurrect something.

France Belgium Mission Crepes
Elder Snyder

1 Cup Flour
2 Tablespoons Sugar
Dash of Salt
1 1/2 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Egg
Vanilla to Taste
[Almond Extract to Taste]

Mix dry ingredients together with hand mixer. Then add wet ingredients. Mix well to avoid lumps. Heat crepe pan over medium heat. Add a bit of oil and use a paper towel to distribute oil in pan. Add ½ cup crepe batter (depending on size of pan), moving pan with circular motion to distribute batter evenly. Use just enough batter to cover pan. [Add a bit more milk to batter if it doesn’t flow smoothly.] Hover. As crepe cooks, lift sides all around with thin spatula. When crepe is ready for flipping, use spatula to lift crepe enough to grasp gently with fingers. Lift crepe with fingers enough to slide spatula under crepe. Flip crepe. Crepe should have a lacey, light brown look. [If it’s too dark, turn down heat; if it’s too light, turn up heat.] Cook other side of crepe, but it won’t get that same lacey, light brown look and doesn’t need to cook as long. Place cooked crepe, good side down, on plate. Fill with whatever you wish. [Purists prefer butter and powdered sugar.] Roll and eat. Use oil-saturated paper towel to re-oil pan between crepes. France Belgium Mission crepe-eating record: 45 crepes by Elder Austin in March 1973. Bonne chance!