Easy chocolate crêpes recipe, a classic 'crêpe au chocolat' served just like in French restaurants with a luscious dark chocolate sauce. Either make them completely chocolate or separate the batter to make fun chocolate designs. No resting time necessary with this recipe.
150g (5oz/1 cup)plain flourall-purpose, T45 or cake flour (00)
2large eggsorganic, free-range
275ml (10 floz)whole milkSEE NOTES
pinchsalt
¼teaspoonvanilla powder or extractoptional
1tablespoonicing/powdered sugar
1tablespoonunsweetened cocoa powder(I use Van Houten)
Instructions
Melt the butter directly in the crêpe pan (even better if it's browned slightly to make a beurre noisette for extra flavour).
Sift the flour, icing sugar and cocoa powder (SEE NOTES) into a large bowl and add the salt and optional vanilla. Make a well in the middle and break the eggs into it. Using a hand whisk, beat the mixture well with the melted butter until a smooth, thick paste. Add about a quarter of the milk to the eggs and whisk well. This ensures no lumps. Whisk vigorously to let in as much air as possible into the batter - this way no need to leave it to rest. Gradually add the rest of the milk. The mix will look quite runny but this is perfectly normal.
Wipe the buttery pan with kitchen paper to remove any excess. This will be handy to wipe the pan between each crêpe. Heat the pan on medium.Ladle one small quantity of the batter into the hot pan. Swirl the batter around the pan quickly, as thinly as possible, covering the surface of the pan.
Cook over a medium-high heat for about 2-3 minutes until bubbles form on the surface. Using a spatula or your fingertips, quickly flip the crêpe over and cook for another couple of minutes.
Turn down the heat slightly (but still at medium) and repeat the process, topping up with wiping of butter in the pan, until you have about 6-8 crêpes (depending on pan size), stacking them aside on a large plate.
In step 1, omit the cocoa powder and use only 250ml milk to create a plain batter. When the batter is prepared, transfer 2 ladles of it into a separate bowl. Add the cocoa powder and whisk in 25ml more milk.Either pour into a squeezy bottle or use a large spoon to make chocolate patterns in the pan. Wait about 15 seconds for it to cook, then immediately ladle in the plain batter and swirl around. Follow the recipe as above.
Flour
Although this is easy to make using just plain flour, I recommend adding a little buckwheat flour; chestnut flour is also a delicious alternative. Use 110/4oz plain flour and 40g/1.5oz buckwheat flour. Tip: keep crêpes warm by stacking them on a plate and cover with an inverted plate on top. Nutrition per 200g portion: 10g protein; 16g lipids; 53g carbohydrates; Glycemic Index: 41