Another get-together with my gluten intolerant friend(s) yielded a fabulous new crepe recipe for me and I couldn’t be happier so that for the past week I am making myself a crepe almost every day. I think I ate crepes in Germany but where I really learned the art of crepes was in Paris. I have so many fond memories of Paris and every time when I eat a crepe I have to think of the time when my friend Jutta and I would take the night train from Cologne to Paris and spent a weekend filled with visiting the Paris neighborhoods, museums, boutiques, restaurants and of course Le Bain Douche! Le Bain Douche was THE “In” club in Paris and had the reputation that only the rich and the beautiful could get in, the door “woman” Marilyn made sure of that. Jutta and I were up for the challenge, not that we are rich or beautiful, at least not in the common sense, but we wanted to see what the club was about and if it really was sooo hard to get in. Until today I still don’t know why the door lady Marilyn would grant us access to this dance palace of the Who is Who but yeah we made it in every time while literally hundreds of people would wait in line hoping to get in. I contribute it to the fact that literally every single girl who wanted to get into the Bain Douche was a size 0 or below where Jutta and I were a size 10 or 12 and Marilyn must have been a size 14, so I think she felt for us and wanted to mix it up, being different is always good and sometimes you wouldn’t really think that what you consider a disadvantage could play to your advantage. But I digress…the crepes..these Gluten Free Crepes are so delicious that the entire batch was gone within 10 minutes, even the usual “flour crowd” devoured the gluten free version.

A couple of side notes:

1. I think Crepes do taste the best the day you make them, but if you are not a complete crepe snob then freeze any left over crepes (put wax paper in between each layer) and reheat them in a frying pan for a couple of minutes
2. With Crepes its all about the fillings/toppings: I love to fill the crepes with apples that I have cooked for 10-15 minutes in apple juice and cinnamon (1 cinnamon stick), its not only a tasty filling/topping but you an also make use of your old unwanted apples. Then I top the crepe with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. The toppings and fillings are endless…raspberries, blueberries, pudding, banana and Nutella, Nutella and nuts, whipped cream or for a zesty filling try thin cut ham and cheese. Make sure you put the ham and cheese on the crepe in the pan, fold over one half and let the cheese melt and the ham get warm, you can also put a little bit of mustard on the crepe, then top it with ham and cheese – delicious!
3. The first one or two crepes usually don’t turn out, don’t worry, it happens every time. Seems like the pan needs a couple tries before it has the right heat and you get the feeling for the amount of batter and how to swirl it perfectly so that you get a thin even layer. I start pouring the batter into the middle of the pan and then make wider and wider circles until my 1/4 cup of batter is poured into the pan, then I lift the pan and slowly swirl the batter in a circle motion until it covers the entire bottom (kind of down, then to the right, then a little bit up and then back down – by then the batter should be evenly distributed and doesn’t “move” anymore).

Ingredients:

Crepes

• 4 eggs
• 1 stick butter, melted
• ⅓ c sugar
• 1 c gluten free flour
• 1 c milk
• 1/4 c water (start with 1/4, if the batter is to thick add a little bit more water and a little bit more milk)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• dash of salt

Cream Filling:

• 1 c sour cream
• 1 8oz pkg. cream cheese SOFTENED
• 1 c powdered sugar

Recipe:

1. In a blender place all ingredients, except for the flour and blend. Then sprinkle in the flour and blend until incorporated.
2. Heat an 8-inch non-stick skillet on medium heat and butter it (I spray a little bit of PAM into the pan for each crepe)
3. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into  the skillet. Rotate the pan in a circular motion to distribute the batter evenly into a thin layer.
4. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until edges easily lift up with a spatula
5. Flip and cook for another minute. You want one side a little bit more “brown” than the other. So that when you reheat the crepe you reheat it first on the lighter side and don’t burn the crepe.
6. To make the cream filling just mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and sour cream together with a hand mixer.
7. Now its time to assemble and enjoy your Crepe!

Guten Appetit!