Sunday, December 23, 2012


To Crepe or not to crepe?



Intimidated by crepes!?  No need to be!! They are some of the easiest things to make and don't take that long! The crepes we make are actually "Swedish pancakes" from a recipe that has been in my brother-in-law's Swedish family for many years.  It is made of flour, milk (or water), salt and eggs, which is the same as most French Crepe recipes though those are often made with whole wheat or buckwheat flours and this recipe doesn't specify the type of flour.  Use what pleases you!

My brother-in-law makes "Sweedies" for his family as their traditional Christmas morning breakfast.  We don't have a traditional breakfast, it's pretty much whatever I feel like making! And this year, I feel like having Sweedies! But I don't feel like making them!  Not that they are difficult, but why "milk" the cow when you can get the milk for free!? ;0)  Let me explain...

You see, my brother-in-law makes the Sweedies for his family and taught my husband, who now makes them for us on a fairly regular basis! I have only made them once -  which I shouldn't have done at all! Why let on that I can make them?! I have someone making my breakfast for me with the pride of a patisserie chef!  No reason to ruin a good thing!  It's one of the few times I can sit back and relax at meal time!  

Just so you don't think my husband and brother-in-law are some kind of masters in the kitchen, and the only ones able to perfect the art of Sweedie/crepe making, let me clarify. Both men grill meat (and veggies when insisted on by their wives) and mine makes sausage and bacon with the occasional egg for breakfast! Not exactly Iron Chef material! If they can make Sweedies, so can you (or better yet, your spouse!!) to the delight of the whole family!!

So, if that doesn't convince you that anyone can make Sweedies/crepes, take a look at the recipe and the steps below and decide for yourself!!

Swedish Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
2TBS sugar - eliminate if you want to fill your Sweedie with savory ingredients like mushrooms and sausage or spinach and cheese.

Butter for pan - not to be mixed into the recipe!

The How To:
The batter is easy to whip up.  It's just like a pancake batter.  Throw all the ingredients in a bowl (EXCEPT BUTTER)  and mix until well blended. Little lumps are ok.


The pan is important! It can be as big as you want but it should have sloped sides and helps if it's a non-stick surface.  The IKEA pans shown here (IKEA 365) are my favorite pans bc they work great on all stove tops - including induction - AND are super cheap!  



Set up your work station: Two pans on the stove top, spatula at hand, batter nearby, and butter melted in a bowl with a brush with which to butter the pans.


Heat the melted butter over medium heat in the pan before adding the batter.


Pour about a 1/4 cup batter into a 7 inch diameter pan while swirling the pan so the batter covers the bottom.  You can adjust the amount with more or less batter according to your desired thickness and pan size.  



When the edges firm up and bubbles appear on the top of the Sweedie, flip it!




Allow for a little time on the flip side for browning and then serve it up to the first kid holding out his plate with a smile on his face!


Let's make it pretty!! 

These are my favorite things with which to decorate my Sweedie!  (If you haven't tried Noosa yogurt, it's a must!!!  High protein, low carbs and absolutely delicious!!!)


My children, however, like to make theirs look like a snowy landscape with powdered sugar, as evidenced by the mess they leave!  


If this much misses the plate, you can imagine what the plate looks like!  I hope that when their tastes refine, they'll experiment a little with something like yogurt and berries!!  They don't know what they are missing!




Smaklig måltid!
(aka - Bon Appetit!)




I hope you all have a
Merry Christmas!!!!