Erin's Golden Millet Crêpes

You know how sometimes you meet someone and it feels like you've known them forever? When you sidestep the slightly awkward beginning of a friendship and immediately feel easy and relaxed?

It was like that when I met Erin.



At the time of that first visit to California, Erin had just got her book deal and was about to begin writing. I was at the beginning of my will-I-won't-I book saga and so we talked a lot about the whole process. It feels crazy that I can now, over two years later, hold her book in my hands. It's called Yummy Supper after her lovely blog and it came out a few days ago.

Last spring Erin let me test a few of the recipes. I tried the poached eggs with greens and hash browns (p.27), spring omelets (p.22) and the brown butter almond tea cakes (p.205), which were all delicious.



I was also sent this recipe. When it first popped into my inbox, I was a bit apprehensive. I've nurtured a lifelong love for crêpes and they're one of my favourite things to make and eat. But millet? I'd never bought it or eaten it before and I had to go to a health food shop to find it. I'm also rather wedded to wheat flour and don't like several of the alternative flours (rice flour being my particular enemy). Then, when I actually made the batter, it smelled different. Unidentifiable.

Yet once I'd eaten one, I immediately asked if I could write about the recipe once the book was out. There's something really lovely - sort of nutty, but hard to describe - about the flavour and the slightly nubby texture is wonderful. The combination of maple syrup and crème fraîche makes them sing and is my favourite topping by far. They may not be my classic crêpes, but they're definitely worth trying.



They are slightly harder to handle as they tear easily. Having said that, if you're relatively happy making normal crêpes/pancakes it shouldn't take long to figure out how to cope. Making them in a small pan makes it easier.

I'm interested to see what other types of crêpe you could make using this method (blasting the millet in a processor with some of the milk before adding the other ingredients). Oat? Nut?



Golden Millet Crêpes
(adapted from Yummy Supper by Erin Scott)

100g golden millet grain
180ml whole milk
15g unsalted butter + a bit extra to fry
1 large egg
2 tsp maple syrup
pinch of salt
more maple syrup and crème fraîche to serve

Tip the millet into a sieve then wash under the tap. Scrape into a food processor and add half the milk. Blast for a minute (I time this as it's always longer than I think). Scrape the sides down then give it another 30 seconds or so - you should have a thin gritty mush. Place the butter into a small pan and melt (you can keep going and make brown butter if you fancy). Add the rest of the milk along with the butter, egg, maple syrup and salt. Blend for 2 minutes until smooth. Scrape into a jug and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to two days.

Place a small 6" or 7" skillet or frying pan over a medium-high heat. When it is properly hot (hold your hand a few inches above the centre - you should be able to feel the heat), turn the heat down to medium. Add a little piece of butter to the pan and move it around as it sizzles so that it coats the bottom of the pan. Stir the batter throughly then pour a splash into the pan, tipping it so it coats the bottom (Erin suggests 2 tbsp batter - I've been doing it by eye). Once the edges start to brown, loosen the sides and flip carefully. Cook for another minute or so then slide out onto a plate and serve immediately.

Stir the batter and add a little nugget of butter to the pan before making each crêpe. Any remaining batter keeps for two days (overall, including your original rest).

(Makes about 12 small crêpes)



Three other posts involving maple syrup:
Maple Nutmeg Mini Madeleines
Ginger Bourbon Pecan Pie
Homemade Granola

Best of... Pancake Recipes

As I've mentioned before, Pancake Day is the only food holiday I always celebrate. This year Shrove Tuesday falls on the 4th of March (a.k.a. tomorrow).

I'm not sure lemon and sugar can be beaten for Pancake Day but in case you fancy a change, I thought I'd round up all of my pancake/crêpe posts. The best place to find my basic pancake recipe is here - it's the one I'll be whisking together tomorrow.



2010 - Brown Butter Wholemeal Crêpes with Vanilla Ice Cream, White Nectarines & Maple Syrup



2011 - Dusky Caramel and Raspberry Crêpe Cake



2012 - Crêpes Suzette (a.k.a. fire, caramel, blood oranges and cinnamon ice cream)



2013 - Pancakes with Lemon Thyme Sugar or Maple-Butter Bananas and Cream



2014 - Nutella Crêpes with Toasted Hazelnuts

Nutella Crêpes: A Guest Post

This February, the recipes on Cup of Jo are all nutella themed. So far there has been Nutella Swirled Banana Bread by Zoë François (of Zoe Bakes) and Nutella Pudding by Ashley Rodriguez (of Not Without Salt).

Joanna (and Shoko, who helps run the series) asked me to contribute a recipe a few months ago. I chose to make crêpes - my favourite ones with brown butter and a good pinch of salt - slathered in nutella and scattered with toasted hazelnuts.

You can see the post here.



Three other guest posts I've written in the past year or so:
Blackcurrant Baked Alaska
Blueberry Braided Bread
Coco-Cocoa Brownies

Pancakes with Lemon & Thyme Sugar

Next Tuesday, the 12th of February, is Pancake Day (a.k.a. Shrove Tuesday). Pancake Day is the only food holiday that I never miss.

I tend to call pancakes crêpes here, to avoid confusion with American pancakes. But Crêpe Day sounds silly (and a bit pretentious), so today they're pancakes.

There are many ways to eat a pancake.

If I'm ordering one at a fair, I tend to go for a slathering of Nutella that bubbles and pales as it warms on the circular hot plate.

Sometimes, at home, I swirl double cream and maple syrup in the middle, then roll it up into a tube. Each slice drips as you eat it, so you have to sweep it up with the next slice - just for the same thing to happen again.

Recently I made a version of this unusual food52 recipe: pancake parcels filled with a ricotta-mascarpone mixture, topped with a honey and blood orange sauce.

Today I cooked a banana with a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of maple syrup and a pinch of salt until the slices were caramelised and soft. Piled onto two hot pancakes with a splash of double cream and a touch more maple syrup, they made an oozy, sweet and filling pudding.

But, to be honest, I usually eat pancakes flipped onto a plate straight from the pan, soaked with lemon, sprinkled with sugar straight from the packet and eaten with my fingers, standing in the kitchen, while they're still hot and crispy around the edges. They're perfect as they are - I certainly don't blame you if you never try them with anything other than lemon and sugar.

However. Sometime around the beginning of the year, mum and I were making pancakes when I noticed some leftover thyme on the counter. On a whim, I crushed a few leaves into the sugar with my fingers. It adds a background herbal note that gives it a little edge.

How do you eat your pancakes on Pancake Day?

Pancakes with Lemon & Thyme Sugar
(adapted many years ago from Delia's Complete Cookery Course)

15g unsalted butter
55g plain flour
pinch of fine sea salt
1 egg
100ml milk
25ml water
a lemon
a few spoonfuls of sugar
a few springs of thyme

Melt the butter in a large, sturdy frying pan. Keep heating until the foam dies down and the butter is full of rusty flecks (see brown butter foundation for more guidance). Pour into a bowl to cool.

Tip the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk together. Make a well in the middle then break the egg into it. Whisk in, incorporating some of the flour. Pour in a bit of the milk and whisk in, slowly incorporating all the flour and milk. Add most of the water, reserving a dash to change the consistency if needed - it should be around double cream. Whisk in the butter. Scrape the batter into the milk measuring jug, to make pouring easier (or use a ladle). Leave to sit for a few minutes while you organise the fillings - in this case, slice up the lemon and briefly rub the thyme leaves into the sugar.

Heat the pan up over a high heat - once you can feel a strong heat when you hold your hand a few inches above the pan, turn the heat down a bit and add a small knob of butter and swirl around (if the pan is hot enough, the butter browns almost immediately after it melts). Holding the pan at an angle, pour a bit of the batter into the pan and swirl into a thin layer. When it starts to brown around the edges, flip. Once that side is done, remove to a plate and serve immediately with the lemon and sugar (or stack on a plate with kitchen paper in between, then reheat when you serve). Adjust the consistency if the pancake is too thick and repeat, melting a little butter in the pan each time. The batter keeps in the fridge for a day (whisk it back together before using).

(Makes 5-6 pancakes, easily multiplied up)

A few more posts about crêpes pancakes:
2012: Crêpes Suzette
2011: Dusky Caramel and Raspberry Crêpe Cake
2010: Wholemeal Crêpes

Crêpes Suzette

Do you like to play with fire? If so, this is the recipe for you.

Do you like soft and wispy crêpes? Buttery caramel sauces? Bright and seasonal citrus? If so, you should make this dish.



It's pancake day or Strove Tuesday this week. As I've already written about my favourite brown butter crêpe recipe and made a Dusky Caramel and Raspberry Crêpe Cake, I thought I would try something new.

Crêpes Suzette is a traditional French dish. Depending on who you believe, it was either developed in 1896 for the Prince of Wales and his female companion 'Suzette' by the chef Charpentier at Monte Carlo or - more likely - discovered at Restaurant Paillard in Paris in 1889 and named after an actress.

They're also made by Mrs Patmore in Downton Abbey, which adds a little glamour and yet another excuse to try them.

I served these with homemade cinnamon ice cream. I use David Lebovitz's fantastic recipe - you shatter a load of whole cinnamon quills into the base and steep it all overnight. The flavour is incredible. It works really well with a lot of wintery desserts so I try to keep a tub in the freezer.

I haven't written the recipe out as this is already a long one and I've probably written about too many Perfect Scoop recipes as it is. I really recommend you buy the book, I love it and use it all the time. (But, ahem, you can find the cinnamon recipe online in both US and metric here).



I know the recipe seems very long. It's not actually that complicated but I wanted to make sure everything was clear and you could work quickly and smoothly through it. If you prepare everything in advance - I made the crêpes and measured everything else - it's really easy to do with guests and they'll love the dramatic flames.

I've tried this using bought orange juice with a squeeze of lemon instead of fresh juice and it was nearly as good (I still served it with a slice of orange). The first batch of crêpes were half wholemeal but I preferred them with just plain for this. I've also tried it with both navel and blood oranges - both were delicious. I've made two batches of crêpes and four sets of the dish in the last three days - it's that good.

I don't think it's traditional to serve this with slices of orange or with ice cream but I think they finish the dish beautifully. The fresh orange brightens the taste and adds texture. The ice cream gives a creamy temperature contrast and the cinnamon melds beautifully with the caramel and citrus.



Crêpes Suzette
(Crêpes adapted from Delia's Complete Cookery Course, sauce adapted from Matthew Fort and Raymond Blanc here)

For the crêpes:
15g butter
55g plain flour
1 egg
100ml milk
25ml water
extra butter for frying

For the sauce & to serve:
2 big oranges
1/4 lemon
60g caster sugar
50g butter
good splash of Cointreau or Grand Marnier
2 scoops of cinnamon ice cream (optional)

Melt the butter in a big, heavy-bottomed frying pan. Keep heating until the butter foams up and dies down and is full of rusty flecks. Pour into a bowl to cool.

Weigh the flour into a mixing bowl and whisk it to get rid of any lumps. Make a well in the centre and break the egg into it. Start whisking the egg into the flour, slowly incorporating more from around the edges. Once you have a thick paste (about half the flour will still be there), start adding the milk. Keep whisking and incorporating splashes of milk and more of the flour until you have a smooth batter. Whisk in the cooled butter. Add most of the water, reserving a little to adjust if needed.

Heat the frying pan up again and add a little bit of butter. Either transfer the crêpe mix to a jug or find a ladle. Once the pan is smoking hot turn the heat down a bit. Pour some of the mix into the pan at an angle and swirl quickly. Flip when starting to brown at the edges. Once browned on the bottom too, remove to a plate lined with a piece of kitchen paper. Repeat until you've got four crêpes you're happy with (you should have batter for about 6). You can now keep them covered in cling film in the kitchen paper (I dampen the top piece) for a few hours or proceed immediately.

Slice one of the oranges so that you have two slices from the middle to serve fresh, and two ends to juice. Carefully pull the peel off the two slices and set aside. Juice the rest of the orange, the other orange and the lemon into a measuring jug. You should have about 150ml of liquid.

Clean the pan that you made the crêpes in. Have everything ready - a whisk, some tongs or a fork to maneuver the crêpes, the butter, the juice, the crêpes, the alcohol, a small frying pan to heat it, matches, the garnishes, plates.

Scatter the sugar evenly over the surface of the pan. Heat over medium-high heat, shaking the pan slightly every now and then to maintain an even layer. Once the sugar has melted and begins to caramelise, scrape the sides down and swirl lightly so that the sugar colours evenly. Once it has reached a deep golden colour, take off the heat, add the butter all at once and whisk until smooth and frothy. Add the juice in two goes, whisking well between each - it may clump up a bit but will melt down in a minute. You'll have quite a bit of liquid.

Return to the heat. Add the first crêpe to the pan, then carefully turn it over with the tongs/fork, making sure it's totally soaked. Fold in half, then into quarters and move to the side of the pan. Repeat with the next three crêpes until the pan is full of the four quarters. Let the crêpes soak and the sauce reduce a little over the heat for about 1 minute, until you have a deep golden syrupy sauce. Transfer the crepes to the plates with some extra sauce. Add the orange slice and ice cream.

Turn off most of the lights in your kitchen. Quickly add a splash of alcohol to the small frying pan and heat until vapours start rising. Light a match and touch it just inside the pan. Blue flames will erupt - watch for the flickers of gold. Pour over the two plates while still flaming and serve immediately.

(Serves 2)

Dusky Caramel and Raspberry Crêpe Cake

This cake hurt me.

I've been working as a one-to-one tutor for the past week, teaching comprehension and creative writing for English school entrance exams for nearly six hours a day. I find it very tiring.

Caramel probably wasn't the best choice of things to make when I could hardly keep my eyes open. I couldn't help it. I had hazy memories of the utter pleasure of the sour cream fleur de sel caramel sauce from this layer cake that couldn't be resisted any longer.

Everything was fine until the sugar turned at an unusual speed, causing the caramel-covered spatula to be flung out of the pan as I grabbed the whisk to beat in the hot cream. Without looking, I reached out for the bowl of sour cream. My middle finger found the caramel-covered spatula instead.

Once the sour cream had been whisked in (the priority!), I spent about an hour attached to the cold tap. I then taught with my finger in a glass of iced water. I took a ziplock bag full of iced water on our dog walk to keep it cool before settling down on the sofa with another water glass. Every now and then I would decide to see how long I could go without a cooling device. I never lasted long - it's amazing how much those blisters can sting. Late that night I tried again and to my surprise they didn't start hurting and haven't since.

I decided to use my old favourite crêpe recipe, swapping out the wholemeal flour but keeping the brown butter. I doubled the recipe and made crêpes for a long time. It felt like I was standing over the hob for hours. I don't normally get annoyed with repetitive tasks. This time I did.

Finally I had stacks of lacy crêpes (I like them with loopy edges, not neat ones), a jar of nearly-burnt-but-not-quite caramel sour cream sauce,a bowl of whipped cream and a tub of raspberries. Turns out I didn't have enough whipped cream. It still tasted great, but it would have been better with thicker layers of filling (I've added more to the ingredients below). I'm glad the caramel cooked further than usual as it really worked in this context.

The flavours mean that the cake isn't too sweet - it's smoky, creamy and slightly sour. The burns were worth it.

*

Also, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who popped over from my last post to like my new facebook page - you're all awesome.

Dusky Caramel and Raspberry Crêpe Cake
(inspired by Amanda Hesser via Smitten Kitchen, caramel recipe adapted from Baked NYC)

For the dusky caramel:
112g granulated sugar
1 tbsp glucose/golden syrup
70 ml water
140ml double cream
1/2 tsp fleur de sel
70ml sour cream

For the crêpes:
50g unsalted butter
220g plain flour
pinch of salt
4 eggs
400ml milk
100ml water

To assemble:
300ml double cream
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
raspberries, to top

To start the caramel, put the sugar, glucose/golden syrup and water together in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar as you bring it to the boil over a high heat. Meanwhile, heat the cream and salt in a small saucepan until the salt is dissolved and the cream has reached a boil, then remove and set aside. Keep going with the sugar until it reaches a deep golden brown.

At this point, remove from the heat and let sit for a minute before whisking in the hot cream. Let the foam subside, then whisk in the sour cream. Leave to cool then store in a jar in the fridge until using - it firms up after a few hours.

When you're ready to start making the crepes, melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Keep heating as it foams up - take off the heat when it smells delicious, the foam has subsided and there are brown flecks floating in the golden liquid. Put aside to cool.

Sift the flour and salt into a big mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack an egg into it. Whisk in, slowly incorporating the flour around the well. Repeat for the other three eggs. Start adding the milk slowly, whisking well between each addition. Finally whisk in 50ml of the water, followed by the brown butter.

Heat up a medium sized frying pan with a solid bottom over a high heat. When it gets really hot, turn it down to medium-high and grease with a small knob of butter. Use a ladle to pour a small amount of mixture into the pan and swirl it so you have a thin layer. Wait until it starts to brown around the edges and flip. Check the consistency of the mixture from this test crepe and add more water if needed.

Repeat with the rest of the mixture, placing each done crepe onto a wire rack to cool before stacking them. You should get around 20-24 crepes.

To make the creamy filling, whip the cream and sour cream together until soft peaks. Briefly whip in the icing sugar and vanilla. Reserve a pretty crepe for the top. Place one crepe on your serving plate then smear with a teaspoon of caramel, followed by a heaped tablespoon of the cream. Place another crepe on top and repeat the process until you have used all your crepes and cream. Spread the last pretty crepe with the last of the caramel. Top with the raspberries, dust with icing sugar and serve.

(Serves 12-14)

Brown Butter Wholemeal Crêpes

In our house, crêpes or pancakes are staple I'm-hungry-and-tired-and-want-pudding items. This batter doesn't need resting and only takes a few minutes to make. Last night we wanted something sweet after some delicious mackerel from the market we went to and these seemed like a great idea. Usually we make them with all plain flour when we're making sweet pancakes but wholemeal is a nice change especially if you're filling them with more than sugar and lemon.

As I was melting the butter to stir into the batter, I left it a moment longer than normal and it started foaming. I decided to keep going into brown butter and see what happened. I'm very pleased I did. The gorgeous nutty flavour works really well with the flavour of the wholemeal - it would also add something extra to plain flour ones.

I filled them with sliced white nectarines, homemade vanilla ice cream and lashings of maple syrup. Absolutely gorgeous. I had to make them again this afternoon to photograph them and I promise last night wasn't a fluke.



Brown Butter Wholemeal Crêpes
(adapted from Delia's Complete Cookery Course)

25g butter
60g wholemeal flour
50g plain flour
2 eggs
200ml milk
50ml water

Put the butter in a medium frying pan and cook the butter until the foam has subsided and there are little brown bits floating. Leave to cool while you make the batter. Sift the flours into a big bowl. Make a well in the middle and crack one egg into it. Whisk into the flour, then add another egg and whisk in. Slowly add the milk then water, working in the flour from the sides. Whisk until smooth, then whisk in the browned butter.  When you're ready to make them, use a little butter to grease the frying pan and wait until the pan is starting to smoke, then turn the heat down a little bit. Pour a small amount of batter into the pan and swirl. Flip when browned and then when ready, take out of the pan. You can keep them warm if you like, or just eat as and when they're ready.

(Makes about 12-14, depending on size etc.