Nutella & strawberry crepes

During my adventures abroad in 2008, I had a 4-day visit in Paris.  And of all the impressive sights in Paris, including Le Tour Eiffel, the one that I remember most clearly (even now) is of... le crepe.  To be more specific, I remember waiting in line in front of a small street vendor intoxicated by the smell of the crepe.  The vendor had a hot plates that he used to cook the crepes.  These plates were about the size of a large pizza, black and circular with no rims, and at least an inch thick.  As each order came in, he would pour a ladle-full of batter onto the plate.  He then used a thin stick to evenly spread the batter on the plate.  After a few minutes, he used another stick to get underneath the crepe and effortlessly lift it up and flip it over.  Then came a generous helping of Nutella, followed by whatever else toppings that the customer ordered.  The crepe was then folded in half, and half again, wrapped in parchment, and the customer would walk away crepe in hand, munching happily about town.  The whole routine probably lasted less than 2 minutes, from order in to order out.  But standing there that day, I was mesmerized at the effortlessness of it all. 

And then there was the moment when he handed me my Nutella crepe, mine.  "Bon appetit, mademoiselle" he said because I must have looked at the treat with some kind of incredible awe, kind of like a kid who's just seen the biggest cake in his life. 

I managed to indulge in a few more of these awesome treats during my short visit, but since I only had fond memories to satiate my cravings.  Somehow I thought that Nutella crepes were a French thing, that I could only get in France and no where else.  That was until I had a rare stroke of genius and decided to Google crepe recipes.  Imagine my surprise when none of the recipes called for anything French, like French air, or French water, or French eggs.  Imagine my astonishment at the realization that I could make this at home and actually satiate my cravings with this edible deliciousness.

The batter recipe was adapted The Yellow Table.  Original requirements (in parentheses) say for 20 crepes, which I thought was a lot for two people, so I halved everything thinking I would get 10 medium crepes.  I ended with only 6 crepes, which left us quite happy but wanting more.  Note to self: don't scale down next time.  Also, I had no milk or vanilla extract so I substituted with coconut milk.

1 egg (2 eggs)
1 tablespoon coconut milk (1 cup milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla)
1.5 cups water (1/4 cup water)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons sugar (2 TBS sugar)
1 tablespoons melted butter (2 TBS butter)

I mixed everything together and stuck the batter in the fridge while I cut the strawberries.  The batter should be more on the runny side, but not completely watery. Then I heated a medium non-stick pan.  I took the pan off the heat while I ladled in the batter and swirled it around to evenly coat the pan.  Put it back on the heat for a minute or two.  Once the edges looked brown and crispy, I flipped it over and let it cook for another half a minute.  The crepe slides off the pan effortlessly.  I then spread a thin layer of Nutella on the crepe and topped it with strawberries, and rolled it up. 

Had I known it was so simple to make, I would've had many more Nutella crepes since my Paris trip.  It was so simple that I didn't waste even waste an obligatory burnt or otherwise messed up first crepe.  And rest assured, it tastes just as delicious (if not, more glorious) as the ones in Paris... crispy at the edges; warm, gooey, sweet, slightly tart near the middle.  So delicious I can't stop thinking about this all day long.  So delicious that I will make it again tomorrow.  So delicious that the boyfriend requests double servings tomorrow.  Oh so delicious.

Crepes folded up like napkins