French Pancakes (Crepes) Basic

                  

           

                   1 cup  flour

                   2 Tbsps.sugar

                   1/2 tsp salt

                   1 Tbsp.shortening, melted

                   4  eggs, separated

                   2 cups milk

                   1 cup water                  

          1. Beat egg yolks and add sugar, salt and 1 cup milk.

2. Add flour and shortening and mix until smooth, then add remaining milk.

            3. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

            4. Bake on hot griddle, making cakes 5 inches across and very   thin.

5. Spread with jelly and roll up while hot. Serve with overlapping edges of cakes on bottom to keep them from unrolling Sprinkle with icing sugar if desired. Makes 12.   

          Variations

Blintzes--Make 12 crepes and bake them on one side only. Put 1 Tbsp. of this mixture in the center of each.

                   !/2 lb. cottage cheese

                    1 egg well beaten

                   1/4 cup sour cream

          1 Tbsp.sugar

                  1/4 tsp. salt

           Some vanilla, lemon or almond                                       extract

           A few raisins plumped in boiling                                          water

1. Combine well.

2. Put mixture in center of crepes; fold both sides over the filling and saute the crepes in a generous amount of butter until they are golden brown.

            Serve with sour cream.     

Crepes Suzette:

 Chez Soi (Home Style)--Cream together 1/2 cup each butter and icing sugar. Remove the zest of 2 oranges with a fine grater and add it to the creamed mixture. Add the juice of 1 orange, a few drops of lemon juice and 1/4 cup Curacao or rum. Spread the mixture on cooked crepes, fold or roll them up, and arrange them on heated serving dish. Sprinkle with sugar and with 1/4 cup warmed brandy. Ignite the spirit and serve the crepes flaming.            

Gourmet--Substitute butter for shortening, stir in 1 Tbsp. cognac and let the batter stand for 2 hours before baking. Dip 4 sugar cubes in orange juice. Put the sugar cubes on a plate and crush them, using a fork, with 3 Tbsp. sweet butter to make a creamy consistency. Put another 2 Tbsp butter in a chafing dish or skillet, add the juice of 1 orange, a few drops of lemon juice and 1/2 cup Curacao, Cointreau, Benedictine, or Grand Marnier, and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir into the creamed sugar-butter mixture. Fold each crepe in quarters, like a handkerchief. A tsp. of ground filberts or grated almonds may be put in the center of each crepe. Put the crepes in sauce, spooning it over them liberally. Sprinkle them with 1/2 cup heated brandy and ignite. Serve with sauce.