Perfect French Crepes with Apple Compote

To make the compote:

Peel and quarter apples and place in saucepan. Squeeze half a lemon over the apples. Pour in the orange juice. Add the vanilla. Let simmer over medium-low heat, covered, until the apples get somewhat soft, stirring as needed. (You can use almost any fruit / combination of fruits– pears, peaches, berries)

Once the apples are somewhat soft, take the cover off the pot and allow the apples to continue simmering until most of the excess liquid is gone. Then mash up (not too much, or you will end up with apple sauce), leaving some chunks. Discard excess liquid if there is any left. Voila, set aside, the compote is done.

To make the crepe batter:

Sift flour and salt into bowl. Add eggs, oil, vanilla, and milk. Stir/whisk until incorporated. You can add some sugar if you like, but I find that the crepes are plenty sweet on their own.

Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour so that the batter smooths out. Or, if you need crepes *now* you can pour the batter slowly through a sieve to get out all the lumps.

To make the crepes:

I recommend a non-stick skillet because there is enough oil in the crepe that you don’t have to add any oil/butter to the pan and they will still come out perfect. Of course, if you *want* to, you can add butter to the pan for flavor!

Ladle or pour some batter onto a nonstick skillet and use your wrist to twist the pan around in a circular motion to distribute the batter across the whole pan. If you do not have enough batter the first time, add a bit more, do the circular motion again, and as it cooks the crepe will even out. Once you get the hang of it, it’s really easy.

Use a fork or spatula to flip crepe, and finish cooking on second side.

Put crepe on plate with some apple compote sandwiched inside. Eat plain, or add ice cream and caramel sauce.

Perfect french crepes every time!