Today is February 2nd. In France it is always the day we celebrate "the Chandeleur." Traditionally, the best way to celebrate is by making and eating crepes.
In Roman times, this day was the celebration of the God, Pan, protector of the shepherds and the herds. The Romans would spend the night walking around town with "chandelles", the French word for big torches, and that is where the name Chandeleur comes from. A tradition came later that if you made crepes that day with the wheat harvested in the fall, it would ensure that the wheat that was stocked would not rot for the rest of the season, securing prosperity until next harvest.
A few other rituals came along over the centuries, but today, the only one that remains is to make crepes on the day of the Chandeleur, and this is a wonderful thing, because crêpes are sooooooo good! With this in mind, I am sharing my own recipe. Enjoy!
Christine's French Dessert Crêpe Recipe:
4 oz. plain flour
1 level tbsp. sugar
1 egg and 1 yolk
1 1/4 cups liquid (equal parts milk and water mixed)
1 tbsp. melted butter
1 tbsp. of Cognac
Put the flour in a large bowl, make a hole in the middle, add sugar, eggs and the milk/water mix. Stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Let the batter rest for 1 hour. Just before using, stir in the melted butter and Cognac.
Put a crepe pan (or flat frying non-stick pan) on medium/high heat, coat it with butter, and when butter sizzles, add some batter to make a wafer thin crepe. Turn down heat to medium, cook 1 minute then flip the crepe over, cook another minute.
Put the crepe on a plate, add sugar, jam, Nutella, Chantilly, or chestnut cream, or a combination of these. Roll the crepe and indulge!
Kids will enjoy these treats with a glass of milk, but the adults should definitely go for our all-natural French cider, Claque Pepin from Normandy!
Santé!