How to make an Authentic Italian Crepe

 == Introduction ==

This recipe is an old South Tyrolean crepe recipe, a Northern Italian crepe with a simplistic recipe. The hardest part about this recipe is the skill of spreading the crepe batter in the pan and getting the pan to the proper temperature. Something to note before following this recipe line for line is that it isn't meant to be to exact measurements. The listed ingredients also will make roughly seven crepes, so if you are cooking this for one please consider that this is meant to be made with a few family or friends eating them as they are cooked; you will have leftovers otherwise and there will be a tip later on for how to properly put these crepes away as leftovers.

== Steps ==

=== Tools and Ingredients ===

# Let's start with grabbing everything we will need for tools in this recipe. Primarily you will need a somewhat flat frying pan, nothing too heavy or big since you will need to pick it up and move it around to evenly spread the batter in it for each and every crepe you make. Another thing to note is that you may want to grab a disposable cup, possibly an old yogurt cup, something you are willing to toss afterwards. If you don't have anything disposable, you will have to clean out one of your cups or containers of some vegetable oil that you will be keeping in the cup for greasing the pan so choose your cup wisely.

#* Frying pan, something that you can lift and move around reasonably, the pan shouldn't be able to produce a crepe wider than your own plates that you'll be using to eat.

#* a large liquid measuring cup

#* spatula

#* whisk

#* spare/disposable cup

#* paper towels!

# As for your ingredients, we have a small handful of things. Wait on mixing them together until the next stage of this how to, since we will be adding the milk to however much is needed and not to an exact amount; the ingredient portions are very loosely suggested but still give a general idea on how much you will need. The ingredients listed below will make roughly seven crepes.

#* 1 cup of flour

#* 1 1/2 cup of milk

#* 2 large eggs

#* a pinch of salt

#* 3-4 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a disposable cup

# Finally before even starting, consider laying out a few plates and getting whatever you want to fill your crepes with ready. Once you start cooking, they will be made one after another and they are best eating hot and fresh! From the frying pan straight to the plate, have things ready for friends or family to start eating as they are made. Highly suggested jellies to fill your crepes with, however nobody can stop you from putting things on your own food. If you are planning on saving them for later, still consider putting them on separate plates or separate them with something if possible since hot crepes stacked will fuse together and won't be able to be stored properly as leftovers.

#* jams, jellies, etc.

#* nutella

#* maybe even peanut butter?

#* Anything you want to put on your crepes, decide at your own risk

=== Mixing the ingredients ===

# The important thing to note while mixing your ingredients all together is the milk. Do not add all of it right away, unless you are up to compensating the extra milk by adding more flour. Make sure there are no lumps of flour that aren't whisked, getting it to a smooth batter. What we are aiming for is a very liquidy batter once everything is properly mixed. If your batter is somewhat like paste, consider adding more milk. The important part of this step is to get the batter liquidy to spread easily and evenly in the pan.

#* Put a cup of flour into the large liquid measuring cup.

#* Crack your two eggs and add them to the flour.

#* Add your pinch of salt, don't worry too much about this step but don't skip it.

#* only pour a small amount of the milk in.

#* Start to mix it with your whisk.

#* Continue mixing and slowly adding more milk as you mix the ingredients.

# Even after you feel as though you have reach a good consistency, you will have to continue whisking the batter to keep it nice and smooth. This photo is to show the batter nice and liquidy, dripping off the whisk.

=== Oiling the frying pan ===

# We will be using roughly 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in this recipe. At no point should you be using butter instead. If you end up using butter because you decided to avoid the trouble of oil, the crepe batter will stick to the pan and in many cases it won't spread properly when you are pouring it into the butter; you will end up with a mess much worse than an oily pan.

# Before oiling the pan, or even as you are starting to if you feel like waiting a moment or two since it won't matter too much, turn on your stove! You don't need any crazy setting for this recipe so just stick to your normal setting that you use for most of your cooking. The stove used in the photos of this how to is set to 4 on a dial that goes up to 7.

# When first oiling the frying pan you will use about a tablespoon. Lift up the pan and rotate it around until you have nearly every inch of the pan evenly covered in the vegetable oil. Don't spend too much time trying to make it perfect because you will be using a paper towel to spread it out even more. Grab a paper towel and start to rub it around in the frying pan, not trying to clean it of all oil but thoroughly oil the pan with a thin layer by using the paper towel. Do all of this while having the stove still heating up the pan, don't worry it won't catch the paper towel on fire unless you put the paper towel underneath the pan which you shouldn't ever do..

# Finally before you put your batter in, wait! You are going to want the thin layer of oil in the pan start to smoke just a bit, that will be enough of a sign that it is hot enough for your crepe batter. While you are waiting just keep on mixing the batter to keep it nice and smooth. If you mess up and put in some batter before the pan is too hot you will be able to tell by seeing the batter sort of fight against the oil. The batter will stick to the pan and sort of look like its gripping the corners (picture reference of what it looks like when it's not hot enough as well as too oily at the same time provided). Don't worry, it will still end up edible if you don't burn it, but it will be very oily and thicker than your other crepes.

=== Spreading the batter ===

# The technique behind getting your crepe nice and thin involves a very liquidy batter that you can add milk to if your first crepe isn't ideal. Keep stirring and whisking your batter and when you are pouring it into your now hot and oiled pan, estimate how much you need and once you finish pouring immediately lift up the pan and rotate it. You want to get the crepe batter spread out fast before it cooks itself into a pancake. Have it cover most of your pan and get it evenly spread as you rotate the pan before finally setting it back down on the stove.

=== When to flip the crepe ===

# You will let the batter cook on that side for a about a minute. It won't take too long since the pan was already heated up before you started pouring batter in and after the first crepe this process will stay somewhat fast since the pan will stay fairly hot! The best and easiest way to know when you should flip your crepe is when the edges start to get cooked or get crispy. Ideally they won't get too crispy but don't worry too much since it isn't easy timing it for your first time. Once the edges are nice and cooked, get your spatula underneath and flip it the same as you would with a pancake. Once it's flipped, the cooked side should look somewhat browned, since the crepe is so thin it's hard to get it completely golden since it would burn super fast. After you flipped it once and waiting roughly another minute, it's time to take it off the pan and move it to a plate!

=== Repeat! ===

# A big part of making crepes is that you aren't making multiple crepes all at once; they cook one at a time. The second you move your first crepe to a plate, make sure to grab your cup of oil and add only a dab of it to the pan. You won't be adding another tablespoon since there will be a bit of oil still in the pan but just a tiny bit added between each and every crepe will do. Either grab the same paper towel or a new one and spread it out in a thin layer once again and repeat your crepe technique!

# Suggestion:   When it comes down to your last crepe and your batter is running low, try your best to use just enough for one more crepe. It's better to make your second to last crepe thin and to make a very small and possibly inedible crepe than to make your last crepe super super thick with the last of your batter. However you are able to do whatever you like as you cook in your own home.

=== Leftovers? ===

# Either you made too many or you simply wanted to save a few for another time, crepes as leftovers are difficult. If you just toss them all into a container and throw them into the fridge, you won't realize your mistake until you grab them the next day. Hot crepes stacked together will stick to each other and when you go to heat them up they will basically be one big crepe. The best and simplest way to store your leftover crepes is to wait for them all to cool off and not have any of them stacked until they are cold, then put them together and in the fridge. In addition, if you just toss them into the fridge before they can cool off even if you made sure they don't stick together, they will end up soggy from the container trapping in the heat.