What do you get when your sister marries a Frenchman? Homemade French crêpes with every visit! Without him there, it is not quite the same. But making crêpes is a family tradition we are so grateful to be adopted into. Beth’s kids get the honor of making crêpes on a regular basis with their dad (Papa) as well as grandmother (Mamie Martine) when she visits from France. It is a cherished routine bringing family together through generations and extended family.

No lie, homemade crêpes take some practice. And nailing down this recipe and process from true experts was no easy feat. But these crêpes are light, delicious, and worth every ounce of effort. A relatively simple batter resulting in perfectly golden brown crêpes, adorned with a variety of accoutrements, per individual preference. Dinner party game changer, to say the least. Mamie Martine’s crêpe recipe is originally written in the metric system, so we have included that in addition to the English conversion of the recipe measurements.

French Crêpe Ingredients

crepe ingredients consisting of a carton of milk, flour, 4 eggs, butter, and Grand Marnier

Hard to believe once you taste them, but all you will need for this recipe is flour, eggs, milk, butter, and of course a bit of dark rum or Grand Marnier. It is best to choose a dark rum of your preference, however, not a spiced rum. Once cooked, you can serve these crêpes with a variety of jams, sliced fruits and/ or berries, Nutella hazelnut spread, whipped cream, white and/ or powdered sugar.

How to Create the Crêpe Masterpieces

First, put the flour in the bowl. Use the back of a large spoon to make a crater in the middle of the flour, then add the eggs into the crater of the flour. Next, break the egg yolks slightly, and then begin to add milk gradually with a whisk.

a bottle of grand marnier, bacardi gold rum, and Negrita rum

Then, add melted butter, which prevents the crêpes from sticking to the pan. Finally, at the end, add the rum or Grand Marnier and combine with the batter.

For best results, make the crêpe batter at least one hour ahead of when you would like to make them. It is best to let the flour absorb into the liquid at room temperature for an hour. If you need to make the batter further ahead of time, then put the batter in the fridge. In this case you would take the batter out to rest at room temperature for one hour before you plan to cook them.

Once you are ready to start cooking, prepare a 10 inch skillet by melting a small amount of butter to just coat the pan (or use cooking spray) over medium low heat. Use a medium sized ladle to pour enough batter (almost a full scoop) in the middle of the pan to be about 4″ -5 ” diameter, and then shift the pan around to coat the bottom. Keep in mind….crêpes are thin, and unlike pancakes.

The color of the batter will change as it is cooking. Some describe the process as moving from a translucent to opaque coloring. Once the first side is opaque, you can use a spatula to test the edges and then flip the crêpe to the opposite side. It should be a golden brown color once you flip it. Then you will continue to check on the second side with the spatula, and it will be 1-2 minutes until it is finished. Continue this process for each crêpe.

Accoutrements/ Toppings to Offer with French Crêpes

It is traditional in our homes to offer Nutella (hazelnut spread), jam, berries, banana slices, white or powdered sugar, and/ or whipped cream. However, add what is your family preference! There are also a variety of ways to fold and eat these. The American side of our family likes to roll our crêpes like tacos to eat them, which ignites some laughter from the French people. The French side prefers to fold them in half and then half again before enjoying.

When to Make and Serve Mamie Martine’s Crêpes

In France, it is most customary to make and serve crêpes as a dessert and so this recipe is written specifically for dessert style crêpes. If you would like to serve something special with the crêpes as a dessert, consider a Kir Royal to accompany this recipe!