How to Make Crêpes (and its History)

In France, on the 2nd of February, we celebrate "La Chandeleur" (Candlemas), one of France's greatest holiday where we feast on crêpes for a whole day. So join me as I go over the History of Candlemas and then show you how to celebrate by making delicious crêpes!

Crêpe Recipe - 3:15
Crêpe Flambé - 7:04

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RECIPE

As well as being delicious, this crêpe dough is superior to other doughs because you don't need to make it in advance and you don't need to butter the pan between each crêpe.

For 24 crêpes, you will need:

250g of White Flour (2 cups)
60g of Butter (0.5 stick of butter)
5g of Salt (1.25 tsp of salt)
6 Whole Eggs
600ml of Milk (2.5 cups)
4tbsp of Water
4tsp of a Strong Liquor (such as Cognac or a Dark Rum)

(The original recipe asked for twice as much salt but that was too much. If the crêpes feel bland, add a pinch of salt.)

1) Heat your milk on a medium-low stove up until it's just about to boil. Do not let it boil as milk spills over very easily.

2) While your milk is heating, put your flour in a large bowl, make a hole in the middle, break your eggs into it, and whisk them together. When the flour and eggs are well combined, add the water, salt, and liquor, and whisk again.

3) When your milk is warm enough, take it off the stove, add the butter and mix them together. When the butter is melted, slowly pour it into your batter while vigorously whisking the batter as to avoid forming lumps.

Voilà! Your dough is now ready. As I've said before, you can immediately use it to make crêpes, which are a great and fun way to spend an afternoon with friends and family.

To make a nice crêpe, take a shallow and wide pan (22 cm/8.5 inches) and put it on high heat. Put some butter in the pan and once it's melted, grease the whole pan with a piece of paper. You only need to butter the pan for its first crêpe.

When the pan is nice and hot, take your dough, whisk it again to mix in any flour that fell to the bottom (I recommend doing that regularly), take a large scoop of dough and pour it onto your warm pan. Spread it evenly, let it stick a second or two, and then pour any excess dough.

Let the crêpe cook for a couple of minutes. Once the crêpe sticks off by itself, you can flip it. I recommend just picking it up with your fingers for that. Let it cook for a minute or two on the other side and enjoy it warm with any spread you like.

As a topping, I strongly recommend trying out "Crème de Marron" or brown sugar with lemon.

Bon appétit!

HISTORY

Candlemas is celebrated on the 2nd of February, which is 40 days after Christmas, the birth of Jesus. According to the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:22), this date symbolizes the time when Jesus was brought to Jerusalem to be presented to God. As such, it is also called “The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus”.

According to the Torah (Leviticus 12:1), it would have also been the day the Virgin Mary got purified after giving birth, hence why it is also referred to “The Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary”.

The holiday is centered on the aspect of purification and on light since Jesus often referred to himself as “The Light of the World.” It is no coincidence these celebrations occurred during February since, from the Ancient Roman times, it had always been a period of purification. The word February coming from the Latin word “Februa”, an ancient celebration focused on purification.

It is one of the oldest feasts of the Christian church with texts recounting sermons as early as the 4th century in Jerusalem. At first, it was a relatively minor celebration, but that changed during the Justinian plague in 541, which broke out in Constantinople and killed thousands. As a result, Emperor Justinian ordered a solemn prayer to ask for deliverance from evil on Candlemas, which apparently worked.

The miracle was thus attributed to Candlemas, which then became much more important. But then, why crepes? Tradition wants that Pope Gelasius the First had pancakes distributed to poor Pilgrims came to celebrate Candlemas in Rome. Although it is believed that it actually came from a Pre-Roman tradition of offering cakes during Februa.

Finally, its round shape and gold color is reminiscent of the solar disc and symbolizes the return of Spring after winter as well as the halo often depicted on portraits of saints.