finnish crepes
Finnish crepes are golden brown and cooked in butter, usually served with strawberry jam and whipped cream. While no one can beat my grandmas ‘lettu’, these come pretty close to it! Crepes are amazing for their versatility. They can be sweet or savory, and will make a perfect breakfast or lunch dish. While this recipe is for dessert crepes, you can easily make them savory by not adding sugar to the batter and filling them with lox, cream cheese, capers, arugula, and dill!
History behind Crepes
Where crepes originate from is debatable but these are the top three origin stories for this delicious dish! Some say that crepes can be traced back to Ancient Celts who used to cook batter on a hot stone that was made out of flour, water, and eggs, known as galette. Others say that the crepe can be traced back to 472 CE to a time when Pope Gelasius served flat pancakes called crispus to French pilgrims visiting Rome for the Christian Candlemas. The last theory is a French folklore based in 13th century when a Breton housewife was making buckwheat porridge and accidentally spilled some on a hot stone and rest is history. Now let’s get to a modern day Finnish version of crepes!
How to make crepes?
In a large bowl whisk together milk, eggs, 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, salt, 1 tbsp sugar, melted butter, and flour until smooth. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Place strawberries, water, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup sugar in a small pot. Simmer over medium heat for about 25-35 minutes until thickened and the berries have broken down. Stir in cornstarch and set aside to cool. Meanwhile make the whipped cream by placing heavy cream in a medium bowl. Whisk until soft peaks form, add 1 tsp vanilla bean paste and 2 tbsp sugar. Whisk until stiff peaks form and set aside. Melt a cube of butter on a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup of the batter on the pan, tilt to spread it around, and cook for 4-6 minutes until golden. Flip and cook another 2-3 minutes. Repeat with rest of the batter. Stuff crepes with the strawberry filling and whipped cream, and then dust them with powdered sugar.
Tips
Once the crepe is bubbling in the middle and the edges feel firm - slid a spatula under it covering the whole middle area and quickly flip around.
Keep adding butter on the hot skillet between crepes.
The jam can be made up to 4 days before.