What Can You Cook on A Crepe Maker ?

We already know that crepe makers are the best for making fluffy, golden crepes and pancakes — but crepe machines are not only good for just this one thing! They are actually a pretty versatile piece of cooking equipment to possess. Let us explore the types of interesting and delicious dishes that can be whipped up on a crepe device. Originally, sweet crepes were cooked on a 350 mm diameter crepe plate, while the savoury “galette” crepes were done on 400 mm diameter crepe plates. We find that nowadays, both sweet and savory crepes are often baked using the same crepe equipment, usually on a machine with the larger diameter of 400 mm.

Crepe Recipes

Traditionally, crepes are served with sugar and/or cinnamon. Crepes, pancakes and galettes are synonymous with typical French cuisine. But there are plenty of other mouth-watering crepe dishes out there. One might also simply get creative and experiment with different sweet and savory recipes, using the crepe as the base. So many ingredients work well in a crepe.

Some well-known crepe recipes are:

● Crepes are often served plainly with sugar, cinnamon or syrup.

● Crepe complete – Traditional fare from Brittany, France. This is a famous savory crepe recipe. It is a crepe cooked with ham, eggs and cheese.

● Sausage galette – Galette cooked with sausage slices. You can add other ingredients to your liking, such as potato and cheese for a delicious filling.

● Crêpe suzette – French dessert consisting of crepes with beurre Suzette, which is a sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, orange or tangerine juice and zest, and topped off with a liqueur.

● Topping ideas for sweet crepes – Sliced fruit such as diced strawberries and bananas, Nutella or chocolate sauce, whipped cream, ice cream, yoghurt, mascarpone, lemon curd, and powdered sugar.

● Topping ideas for savory crepes – Bacon, green peppers, cheese. Basically, anything you can use as a filler in an omelette can also be used in a crepe. Breakfast crepes can be another option to an omelette.

International Pancake Culture

The pancake is the most difficult product to cook because of its very fine dough (hardly 1 mm), and its large surface area; so homogeneous cooking is a must. The crepe plate must first be greased uniformly with fat, butter, oil or non-stick spray, and preheated at 180-200°C max.

Traditional Sweet and Savory Pancakes

Many countries enjoy their pancakes prepared in different ways:

● American pancakes are characterized by their thick and soft texture. In USA and Canada, they are often referred to as flapjacks, hotcakes or griddlecakes. They are usually served at breakfast time; in a stack of two or three, and topped with maple syrup and butter. They are commonly served with eggs, bacon, sausage and toast.

● Piadina – Italian specialty, fine pancake made from wheat flour and lard.

● Dürüm – Turkish galette which can replace the bread in a kebab sandwich. It just takes one minute of cooking on either side on an ungreased, hot plate and it's ready! This hot and sour galette is then rolled around pieces of meat and vegetables.

● Mexican galettes or tortillas for fajitas, wraps and tacos. These are cooked in 2 minutes on a pancake maker!

● Crepioca or "tapioca crepe" is native to Brazil. This Brazilian pancake looks like an egg and tapioca omelette sold as a salty or sweet wrap.

● Ploye – Yellow buckwheat pancake. It is a specialty of the Madawaska region of New Brunswick in Canada. It is cooked on one side on a crepe machine. It can be eaten as a savoury meal or sweet dessert.