How to make pretty crêpes?
I know how to make crêpes, however they have some tendency to be a bit ugly aesthetically speaking.
Each time I go to a crêperie, I can see this kind of crêpes :
However, when I try myself, I often end up with something much thicker, with less even browning, like this but thicker:
What can I do to improve my crêpe-fu? Is it possible to achieve the prettiness of the first picture?
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Perfect crêpes are the result of lots of practice. Things you need to experiment with are:
Flour - getting just the right fine and freshly ground flour, plenty of wholemeal gives it a better texture. try putting the flour through a food processor to make sure it is equally fine
Standing time - the crêpe mixture needs to be left standing enough for flour particles to get wet, but not too long so that it goes gluey. About 30 minutes at room temp is the minimum, try around 2 hours for better results
Heat - what is the perfect heat for your pan or and its surface, you'll find this out over time and experimentation? It is usually around the 80% of maximum mark on a typical stove. Some of the best crêpes come from thick aluminium pans, with a low ridge, and a very slightly bumpy surface (a pattern of round humps about 6mm in diameter, and 0.2 mm high)
Butter - getting just the right amount of butter in the pan for each crêpe, too much and you deep fry it, too little, and it cooks too slowly. Use a brush to get an even thin layer on quickly. The butter fat acts as a heat transfer agent as well as a release agent
Spreading - use a T shaped spreader stick to get thin and even crêpes. Tilting the pan takes too long, and makes the heat uneven
Timing - crêpes continue to cook after you take them out of the pan if you are making a stack of them. Always go for slightly under-cooking, and therefore slightly higher heat to make them brown in the same time frame
The trick, according to a French roommate from college, was thin batter temperature and a well (clarified) buttered pan.
The batter should feel almost too thin. I always thought that the batter was perfect and she would thin it just a little more.
The pan should be at just the right temperature (this will vary stove by stove). Your photos look like the temperature could be a little lower, but only just! The way she kept her pan perfectly buttered was using clarified butter, and used half of a yellow or red potato on a fork (think a nice waxy potato) to spread the butter. This allowed just the right amount of butter into the pan.
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