Crêpes have their deepest roots in Brittany, where crêperies remain especially common, but they belong to all of France now. In Paris they are made to order at street stands, cooked on a wide, hot griddle, filled, folded and handed over to be eaten on the move. Sweet crêpes are made with wheat flour; their savory Breton cousins, galettes, are made with buckwheat and often filled with ham, cheese and egg.

The great sweet filling is also the simplest: a little butter, a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of lemon, sharp and sweet and gone in four bites. The French eat crêpes in quantity on la Chandeleur, Candlemas, on the second of February, when tradition says that flipping one with a coin in your other hand brings a prosperous year. At home a frying pan does the job of the street griddle, and once the first crêpe is out of the way, which is traditionally a failure, they come quickly. The first stint of a race is about the right length for a batch.

The batter

Ingredients

• 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) whole milk
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter

Method

1. Put the eggs, milk, water, sugar and salt in the blender, then add the flour. Blend for about 20 seconds, stop and scrape down the sides with a spatula, then pour in the melted butter and blend for 5 seconds more. Without a blender, put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl, make a hollow in the middle, add the eggs and a little milk and whisk from the center outward, gradually adding the rest of the milk and water, then the butter.
2. Pour the batter into the pitcher, cover and leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes, or in the fridge for up to 24 hours. If it has been chilled, let it stand at room temperature for 15 minutes and stir before using.

Cooking and filling

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons (45 g) unsalted butter
• about 1/3 cup (65 g) sugar
• 2 lemons

Method

1. Set the frying pan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Dip a folded paper towel in the softened butter and wipe a very thin film over the pan.
2. Stir the batter. Lift the pan off the heat, pour in a scant 1/4 cup (60 ml) of batter near one edge, and immediately tilt and swirl the pan in a circle so the batter runs across the whole base in a thin, even layer. Return the pan to the heat.
3. Cook for 60 to 90 seconds without moving or prodding it, so the underside can set and color evenly.
4. Slide the spatula under the crêpe, lift it, and flip it over quickly. Or lift an edge with the spatula, take hold with your fingertips and turn it by hand. Cook the second side for 20 to 30 seconds.
5. With the crêpe still in the pan, the speckled first side facing down, spread a little butter over the top, sprinkle with about 2 teaspoons of sugar and squeeze over a little lemon juice. Fold it in half, then in half again into a triangle, and slide it onto a plate. Wipe the pan with butter and repeat, adjusting the heat as you go.

More from France