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The incomparable Julia Child became a global culinary icon for her ability to distill the famously finicky techniques that form the basis of classical French cookery into accessible, achievable recipes. She literally wrote the book on it, the indispensable “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” And the depth of her knowledge was such that she seemingly had tips for making any meal a work of art — from how to perfect classic dishes like sole meunière to simple ways to make kitchen cleanup a breeze.
You may not consider the humble crepe to be a particularly difficult dish, but like many of the less-complex elements of French cuisine, “simplicity” belies some quite fiddly techniques. If you’ve ever made crepes at home (without a dedicated crepe machine), you’ve likely run into the problem of how much batter to use. Sometimes, you’re left with a crepe that’s too thin and small. Other times, you wind up with a thick, gummy thing that burns before it cooks through. Either way, you’re wasting batter.
Child had a fix to easily (and quickly) dial in the perfect amount of batter: For your first crepe, ladle a test amount into your hot pan, leave it for a moment to set, and then pour off any remaining batter that hasn’t set back into your mixing bowl. This will not only allow you to gauge how much batter to use but will also ensure you don’t waste that test crepe!
Use those crepes to make another classic Julia Child recipe
Once you have a stack of delicious, homemade crepes, you should probably think about how to use them. Of course, you could just eat them as is: Crepes are a delicious breakfast when paired simply with butter and sugar, jam, or even Nutella. However, you could elevate things a little and make another classic recipe from Julia Child’s oeuvre: the iconic flaming Crêpes Suzette.
This ubiquitous French dessert is a relatively simple way to elevate the humble crêpe into a spectacularly refined dish. (If it’s good enough for The Ritz, it’s good enough for your dinner party!) All you need is a batch of freshly made crepes, some orange juice, sugar, and a splash of orange liqueur like Cointreau or Grand Marnier. For such an elegant dish, the preparation is surprisingly simple. The sugar is caramelized in a pan with butter, and the resulting caramel, which should reached a deep, amber color, is then combined with the juice, reduced, and finally finished by adding the liqueur and flambéing (a step that you can skip if you don’t feel up to the challenge — or if you want to skip the booze). What you’ll be left with is nothing short of a marvel: a rich, glossy, yet understated classic of French cooking — something Julia Child herself would be proud of.
