I got up a wee bit late today and decided to treat myself with my favourite brunch item: crêpes. The wonderful thing with crêpes is that you can plan to make them anytime and always have the ingredients and equipment ready. I left the batter to stand for a little over 30 minutes while I finished off my other kitchen chores.

The recipe is one I adapted slightly from Isabelle‘s blog, a great source for french recipes with plenty of illustrated instructions. Wish I also had someone to take pics of me flipping the crepes high up in the air. That was definitely lotsa fun and you get the hang of it pretty fast. You can double or triple the recipe for a larger batch.

FLIP – IN – THE – AIR  CRêPES

Ingredients:

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1 pinch salt

1 egg, room temperature

2/3 cup milk

2 tbs caster sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

  • Combine flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
  • Add egg and whisk together. Gradually add milk to mixture and continue to whisk until well blended.

  • Add sugar and vanilla. Keep whisking until batter is smooth.
  • Cover and leave to stand for 30- 60 minutes.

  • Lightly oil a crêpe pan [or frying pan if you dnt own one].
  • Pour about a 1/4 cup batter in the pan and quickly swirl the pan to spread batter so that it coats the surface evenly.

  • Cook crêpe for about 30-45 seconds before flipping over.
  • Run a silicone spatula under crêpe to make sure it is not sticking to pan before you attempt to flip it in the air.

  • Cook until the other side is also lightly browned.
  • Grease pan lightly before cooking each crêpe and enjoy flipping them in the air! Makes 4-5 crêpes [for 1 person].

Crêpes were not the only thing I made today. My interest in yeast experiments lead me to give the country crust bread featured on The Way The Cookie Crumbles a try. While my skill at braiding the loaf still demand lotsa practice I was quite pleased with its texture. It was still very soft hours after it was out of the oven and even better when I warmed it up for a minute or two in the microwave. I have no doubt that it will keep well till breakfast tomorrow.

COUNTRY CRUST BREAD

 

Ingredients:

3 – 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp table salt

1 cup lukewarm water

1 egg, room temperature

2 tbs unsalted butter, melted or vegetable oil

3 tbs honey or 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 sachet (10g) instant yeast

 

Method:

  • Adjust oven rack to low position. Heat oven to 200 0C.
  • Once temperature reaches 200 0C, maintain heat 10 minutes, then turn off oven heat. Mix flour, salt, and yeast in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook.
  • Mix water, egg, butter, and honey in a measuring cup.
  • Turn machine to low and slowly add liquid.

 

  • When dough comes together, increase speed to medium.
  • Mix until dough is smooth and satiny for about 10 minutes. 
  • Stop machine two or three times to scrape dough from hook.
  • Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface.
  • Knead to form smooth, round ball, about 15 seconds.
  • Place dough in lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.

 

  • Leave to prove in warm oven or any warm spot until dough doubles in size, for about 40 to 50 minutes.
  • To braid the loaf , divide dough into three equal portions.
  • Gently roll each portion into a 16-inch length.
  • Braid the pieces together, then pinch the ends together.
  • Tuck them under the loaf and place on a lined baking tray.

 

  • Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in warm spot until dough almost doubles in size, 20 to 30 minutes.
  • Heat oven to 350 oF. Place an empty loaf pan on bottom rack. Bring 2 cups water to boil in a small sauce pan.
  • Remove plastic wrap from loaf. Place baking tray in oven.

 

  • At the same time pour the heated water into the empty loaf pan, then close oven door. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
  • Remove bread from pan and transfer to a wire rack.
  • Cool to room temperature. Slice and serve.