maker touches the bottom of the dish. You can save any small amount of
batter if you like.
If crepes stick to maker, check recipe - recipes using oil in place of butter
or margin or recipes including sugar can stick slightly. You may need to
wipe surface of crepe maker with a bit of butter on a paper towel before
the first crepe or between each dipping.
If crepe maker is dipped and kept in the batter too long, the batter will not
adhere to the non-stick surface. The dipping procedure should take only
a few seconds.
OTHER HELPFUL CREPES HINTS
In all crepe batters, the proportions of flour, eggs and liquid can be varied
to produce a thin, lacy crepe, a sturdier, thicker crepe or an egg-y crepe.
Adding butter or margarine adds flavor and easier removal from the pan.
Oil may make crepes stick slightly. Sugar adds crispness but may make
crepes break in rolling.
As the pancakes come off the heat, you can eat them right away spread
with some butter or jam (or both) or quickly rolled around your favorite fill-
ing. More likely, youíll want to let them cool either to stuff and bake them
later that day or to refrigerate or freeze them for future use.
Donít stack hot pancakes or the resulting steam will make them gummy
and cause them to stick together. Cool the crepes briefly on a rack and
then stack them between sheets of waxed paper. Wrap them tightly in
plastic and refrigerate them for up to a week. To freeze them, I wrap
stacks of eight in plastic and then again in foil. This way, I can take out
the number typically called for in recipes and leave the rest of my frozen
batch undisturbed. Crepes will keep for months in the freezer. Defrost
them in the refrigerator until theyíre pliable.
There are so many world foods that are related to the crepe. These might
include Mexican Tortillas, Russian Blinis, Jewish Blintzes, Hungarian
Palascintas, Chinese Egg Rolls, Italian Manicotti and pancakes of every
country. There are so many versions of crepes and variations in fillings
and sauces that you really can do anything you like - perhaps youíll
create a new dish!
HOW TO USE YOUR CLASSIC CREPE MAKER
1. Prepare one of the batter recipes an hour or more ahead. Plan to use
up all of the batter (14-16 crepes) since any crepes you donít use will
keep several days in the refrigerator or a month in the freezer.
2. Pour the batter into a shallow dish or pie pan, either glass, metal or
foil, slightly larger than the crepe maker. Plug into 120-volt AC outlet and
preheat crepe maker until ìready-lightî goes ìonî, (about 3 minutes). This
indicates that crepe maker is ready to be dipped into batter.
3. Turn crepe maker over (light ìonî) and dip into batter at a slight angle,
than flat, to quickly coat surface almost to edge.
4. Remove from batter and set on legs. Light will go ìoffî. Dipping and
removing should take no more than 3 seconds. Crepe is done when
ready-light goes ìonî or when slight browning appears at edges and it has
almost stopped steaming (about 45 seconds).
5 ..Invert crepe maker over plate covered with a paper towel or napkin. If
crepe does not drop off, loosen at edge with small plastic spatula or table
knife. (It is not necessary to brown other side.)
6. Continue making crepes - no waiting is required. Repeat dipping as
above. The ready-light will continue to indicate when crepe is done.
Variations in ingredients or individual preferences as to crepe color will
affect the cooking time. Therefore, you may disregard the ready-light.
7. Stack crepes as you make them. No waxed paper is needed between
them. You can keep crepes moist as you make them by covering stack
with a cloth, paper towel or foil. This isnít necessary for crepes that will
be filled and/or sauced and heated.
8. If your crepes are not as dry or crisp as you like them, merely disre-
gard the ready-light and allow to bake several seconds longer.
CREPE COOKING HINTS
The first crepe or two may be lacy or have holes, particularly if the batter
is frothy from blender-mixing or whipping. The last crepe may
not stick to the crepe maker if the batter is too shallow and the
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