Crêpes with Caramel au Calvados – Normandy

Serves 6:

For the crêpes:

• 125 g plain flour, sifted
• 15 g of caster sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 375 ml of milk, at room temperature
• 20 g of melted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons of Calvados (you could use Grand Marnier or some lemon juice instead)
• some more butter for frying

For the Caramel au Calvados:

• 150 g of caster sugar
• 50 g of Muscovado sugar (dark or light brown)
• 120 ml of heavy cream (or more if you desire a more liquid consistency of the sauce)
• 85 g of unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons of Calvados
• 1/2 a teaspoon of lime juice
• *if you wish to turn it into a salted caramel, add 1 teaspoon of sea salt (gradually, tasting the sauce continuously) instead of the Calvados

Prepare the crêpe batter:

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.

Add the eggs, one by one, whisking all the while (with an electric mixer on a low speed).

Whisk in the butter, then milk (best if gradually to avoid any lumps) and the Calvados.

Once the mixture turns smooth and homogenous, cover the bowl with cling film and set aside for at least one hour.

Make the caramel sauce:

Melt the caster sugar in a medium saucepan, on a medium to low heat, to a light brown caramel (don’t move or shake the pan at this stage).

Dissolve the Muscavado sugar in the cream by heating them both together slightly (**you could always just use 200 g of white caster sugar instead-to make things more simple).

Once the caramel is ready, take the saucepan off the heat and add the butter, stirring all time. The caramel will start to bubble so be careful.

Put the saucepan back on a low heat and pour in the cream, stirring all the time.

Once the sauce turns homogenous and smooth, add the Calvados and the lime juice (or the sea salt if you are making salted caramel).

If the sauce is too thick to your liking, stir in more cream.

Fry the crêpes (10-12, depending on the size):

Put a small knob of butter in a non-stick frying pan (about 16 cm in diameter) and heat the pan over a medium heat.

Ladle in a little of the crêpe batter and swirl it over the base of the pan.

Once the pancake starts to turn golden and comes off the pan easily, turn it over and finish cooking (until it turns golden on the other side).

Transfer the crêpe to a flat plate and cook the remaining pancakes the same way until all the batter is used.

Serve the pancakes still warm, rolled and drizzled with the caramel sauce.

The caramel solidifies when it cools dow, just reheat it when needed.

Store it in a glass jar (300-350 ml) or a plastic container, in a fridge for up to one month.

The above caramel sauce works extremely well with cinnamon rolls, cheesecake or drizzled over an ice-cream.