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When it comes to brunch food, we all know it can be difficult to choose between a sweet dish and a savory one. But why not both? Look no further than the latest installment of our “Let’s Eat, CAIC” series, which highlights different ways to use local ingredients. This week, we’ll show you a recipe for delectable crepes. Thinner, airier, and crispier than pancakes, they’re even better for piling with toppings.
Our social media manager and event coordinator, Pam Foulke, cooked up a double batch of these crepes for a Mother’s Day brunch: one half with savory fillings, and the other half with sweet. While she’d made them before with store-bought ingredients, this time she swapped out two of the five items for farm-fresh ones.
At her local favorite Easton Farmers Market, Pam picked up some eggs from Triangle Acres, a family farm in Hurlock, Maryland. Along with eggs, the farm is known for its vegetables and flowers. For fresh local butter, Pam turned to Dogwood Lane Dairy. Based in Worton, the century-old farm has a certified A2A2 herd of Guernsey cows.
When Pam made the batter for the crepes, she found that using the farm-fresh eggs and butter impacted the color and texture. Though the batter looked a little bit different than she was accustomed to, the difference in the crepes’ taste was amazing. “They were lighter, flakier, crispier, and smoother,” Pam says. “They were delicious!”
Read on for the recipe, watch the video at the bottom of the page (or here on YouTube), and try it out for yourself!
Brunch-Ready Sweet and Savory Crepes
Ingredients for Batter:
Four large eggs
Two cups of flour
Six tablespoons of butter, melted (you can use more to coat the griddle, but you might not need to!)
A cup and a half of milk
A cup of water
Optional (for sweet crepes): A teaspoon of vanilla extract
Makes about 20 small crepes, which was perfect for Pam’s four-person brunch. You can halve the recipe for smaller batches, or double it again for a bigger group. Another option: divide your batter in half, and add vanilla to one for a sweeter batch.
Topping Ideas:
Practically any topping, sweet or savory, works with these! For her sweet crepes, Pam used Bennett Orchards strawberries that her mother brought, sliced with a pinch of added sugar; whipped cream; and Nutella. For the savory batch, she used cheddar and asiago cheese, ham, and homegrown herbs.
Useful Tools:
- A small griddle or nonstick pan. (Though almost any kind of pan works, Pam actually used a vintage electric griddle to make hers; to find one of your own, check eBay!)
- A spatula.
- Optional: A blender (highly recommended for efficiently mixing perfect batter).
Instructions:
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl, and blend them using a blender or hand mixer.
2. Once everything is smoothly blended, chill the batter for at least half an hour in the refrigerator. For optimal results, Pam recommends keeping it in there for an hour or two; this makes for better consistency of the batter, which in turn makes for better texture. (You can even save time by preparing your batter the night before and chilling overnight!)
3. Heat your griddle or pan. If you want, you can coat it with butter, although you might not need it!
4. Pour about an ounce of the batter into the heated pan, and make sure that it’s evenly spread across the surface. Let it cook for about 30 seconds before flipping it over and cooking the other side. Once it’s fully cooked (look for crispy edges), you can add your toppings right there in the pan, or set it aside to do so later.
5. Repeat for the rest of the crepes. As with many pancake or waffle recipes, you might find that your first one or two crepes aren’t perfect, but keep going! You’ll get the hang of it. If you’re making multiple batches, stick the batter back in the fridge (or even in the freezer) in between cooking them, because you’ll get the best crepes when the mixture is cold.
6. Serve immediately. Alternatively, you can store the crepes in the fridge, because they’ll keep for a couple of days.
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