Need an excuse to eat crêpes today? Well here you go – it’s La Chandeleur in France!
What is La Chandeleur?
You might have thought the French eat crêpes on Mardi Gras, (Shrove Tuesday, what we call Pancake Tuesday) the day before Ash Wednesday, which signals the start of Lent. In fact, in France, crêpes are eaten on La Chandeleur, or Candlemas, which is celebrated by Catholics on February 2nd, 40 days after Christmas. It’s also known as la fête de la lumière or the Festival of Light (“chandeleur” comes from the word “chandelle,” which means candle) and it also marks the day Mary was allowed back into the temple after giving birth to Jesus.
Nowadays, it’s celebrated in France by eating crêpes! Tradition says that if you hold a coin in the hand you write with while you flip the crêpe in the pan with the other and you manage to catch the crêpe, your family will enjoy a prosperous year!
Typically, to celebrate this day, in the past, my Grade 4s made a few batches of the crêpes from In the French kitchen with kids (we did NOT do the flipping part LOL!) and you can bet it is always everyone’s favorite lesson of the week! Sadly, though this year my timetable doesn’t allow for this, but that shouldn’t stop you! Not only it is a great day to eat crêpes but it’s also a great day to get your kids in the kitchen!
Need some inspiration? Check out this video that was actually part of the Grade 4 curriculum a few years ago!
Today I am sharing a recipe for Salted Caramel Apple Crêpes – sounds complicated but it’s really not! If you know how to make apple pie filling, you can make these! Psst: you can also use store-bought caramel sauce to make it even more accessible if making caramel isn’t up your alley!Start with my easy crêpe recipe…
Add caramel and apples…
And you’ve got an easy, yet impresisve dessert for La Chandeleur (or really, anytime!)
You *could* just fill the crêpes with the apples and caramel…
But it’s so much better with a little bit drizzled on top too!
Want to make your own?
Salted Caramel Apple Crêpes
Easy crêpes filled with salted caramel apples served with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce!
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 4 apples (approx 600g total weight)
- 2 tablespoons water
- Approx. 1/2 cup caramel sauce (store-bought our you can make your own - see note at the end of the recipe)
For the crêpes
- 2/3 cup (100g) all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups (310mls) milk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons (28g, 1/4 stick) unsalted butter melted then cooled
- Vegetable oil to grease the pan for the first crêpe
To serve:
- (optional) ice cream or whipped cream (or even heavy pouring cream)
Instructions
- Place the chopped apples and 2 tablespoons of water in a medium pot over medium heat and cook until the apples are starting to break down, stirring from time to time (approx. 8 minutes depending on how big your apple pieces are). You’re looking for the apples to be the consistency of apple pie filling but not mushy.
- Take the pot off the heat and stir in about 1/4 cup of the caramel sauce, stirring to coat completely. Set aside while you prepare the crêpes.
- Place the flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Once all the milk is mixed in, add the lightly beaten egg and whisk until there are no more lumps.
- Add in the melted, cooled butter.
- You can use this straight away or place it in the fridge until ready to use. If you place it in the fridge, you’ll need to give it a good whisk before you use it.
- When you are ready to make the crêpes, lightly oil a 25cm/ 9-inch (preferably non-stick) frying pan (pour a little oil on a paper towel and coat the entire pan with this oil) and place it on high heat. You can tell that the pan is ready if you put a drop of the batter in (literally, a drop will do!) and it starts to sizzle and cook.
- Use a 1/4 cup measure for the batter – grab the frying pan with one hand and lift it off the heat while you pour the batter into the centre of the pan.
- Quickly swirl the pan around in a circular motion to distribute the batter evenly in the pan.
- Place the pan back on the heat and cook the crêpe for about 2-3 minutes. The top will bubble and the bottom will be golden brown and lacy looking.
- Flip the crêpe using a spatula and cook a further 2-3 minutes.
- Place the cooked crêpe on a parchment-covered warm plate and cover with parchment paper while you cook the rest of the batter. The parchment paper will help them not stick together as you stack the cooked crêpes
- You can use the crêpes now or refrigerate them. If you refrigerate them, reheat them in a small skillet for a minute or so on each side before assembling.
- Place the crêpes on a plate and cover 1/2 of the crêpe with the apple filling. Fold the crêpe in halves and then quarters and drizzle with the extra caramel sauce.
- Serve 2 crêpes on each plate.
- You might consider ice cream or whipped cream (or even heavy pouring cream) to serve, but I don’t think they need anything else…
Make the filling:
Make the crêpes
Assemble the crêpes:
Notes
If you'd like to make your own salted caramel sauce, you can use this recipe - if it's hardened, you can heat it in the microwave for about 15 seconds until it's pourable.
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So does this mean the French don’t eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? Or do they eat them twice? I guess the French eat crêpes all year round and don’t really need an excuse!
No, Shrove Tuesday is “Mardi Gras” where typically they eat fatty food before Lent starts (La Chandeleur and Mardi Gras are two different things). More info here: https://www.frenchentree.com/living-in-france/local-life/food-recipes/la-chandeleur-frances-pancake-day/ !