The crêpe is a French classic, a thin, light pancake that's as popular as a breakfast as it is as a dessert, and of course as a street food too.
While many of the world's pancakes are made with with yeast or baking powder, crêpes are unleavened. Simple, flat and usually delicate, they can be folded, rolled and filled or even layered into a crepe cake.
And while it may have been invented in France, today crêpes can be found in cuisines around the world. Learn how to make crêpes for the first time, or discover interesting variations if you are a batter master.
A classic French dessert, popular in restaurants due to the theatre of setting the sauce alight at the table! This version from season 6 of uses orange zest in the batter and serves the crêpes with an orange and Grand Marnier sauce.
Credit: Kitti Gould
Some say that the region of Brittany is where crêpes were first made, and the area is still known for its buckwheat galettes – i.e. crepes made with buckwheat flour and usually folded around a filling. In this recipe, Guillaume Brahimi fills his with eggs, ham and Gruyere.
Enjoy the Tour de France with crepes. Credit: Andy Baker
If you're looking for a basic recipe for crêpes, look no further. Folded into dainty wedges to serve, these easy-to-make light crêpes from Adam Liaw could also be served up with add-ons for dessert.
Little breakfast crepes Credit: Kitti Gould
While you can fill crêpes with almost anything, this caramelised banana and honey version is delightful.
Credit: Brett Stevens
Of course France is not the only place where you can find fantastic crêpes. This light and delicious, crepe with coconut filling, called kuih dadar, is popular throughout Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, as Tony Tan explains. The colour and special flavour in his vibrant recipe come from pandan juice.
Pandan crepes with coconut filling. Credit: Mark Roper / Murdoch Books
The batter in this recipe uses rice flour, cornflour, coconut milk and turmeric, creating another vibrant crepe variety. Lisa Nguyen fills hers with pork belly, prawns and mushrooms but as she says, the fillings for these fragrant coconut milk crêpes are limited only by your imagination.
Sizzling crepes Credit: One World Kitchen
Influences from several corners of the globe come together in this recipe from O Tama Carey. "This dish is inspired by the mango pancakes found in a yum cha trolley that I usually find too sweet and a little fake. This version uses buckwheat for savoury notes, with sourness from India, a little sweetness from Sri Lanka and the buttery nuttiness of macadamia."
These crepes combine sweet and tangy flavours for an Australian twist on a classic recipe. Credit: Sharyn Cairns
As Paola Bacchia notes on her recipe, thin crêpes can easily be stacked into tortes and cakes. The result may look fancy but is usually quite easy, and that is the case with her savoury crêpe stack.
Crepe stack with spinach, ham and blue cheese (Torta salata di palacinche) Credit: Paola Bacchia
For a sweet stack, try this recipe from Mary Berg. This showstopper cake has a layers of rich lemon and white chocolate curd and a cream-with-cream-cheese filling layered between the crêpes, then topped with more whipped cream cheese, fresh strawberries and almonds.
Credit: Mary Makes It Easy
Grated carrot is added to the batter in this Korean-inspired recipe. The crêpes are then rolled around a filling of fresh veg, tofu, kimchi, coriander and a squeeze of lemon juice, with a soy, ginger and sesame dipping sauce.
Credit: Hardie Grant Books / David Frenkiel
This Istrian dessert recipe uses a batter fragrant with orange and lemon zest, plus white wine. The crêpes are stuffed with a simmered cherry, rum and cinnamon filling and drizzled with cherry sauce.
Crepes with cherries,
orange and cinnamon (Palacinche con ciliege) Credit: Paola Bacchia
